Australia 310 for 3 (Haynes 130, Lanning 86) beat England 298 for 8 (Sciver 109*, Beaumont 74, King 3-59) by 12 runs
Meg Lanning had wanted to do departed Australian greats Shane Warne and Rod Marsh proud. She had also spoken of Rachael Haynes' importance to her side's World Cup campaign in the build-up to their opening match against England.
Both talking points were apt as Australia held on for a tense 12-run victory on the back of Haynes' hyper intelligent century as England fell just shy of their hefty 311 target in a high quality, high-scoring affair in Hamilton.
A plucky second-wicket partnership between Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight worth 92 was no match for the 196 runs put on by Haynes and Lanning. Nat Sciver then made a late dash to make a gutsy 109 not out off 85 balls, but it wasn't enough for England. Leg-spinning allrounder Alana King - who tweeted earlier in the day of her sadness at the loss of her "inspiration" Warne - took three wickets and Jess Jonassen took two in the final over to seal the win.
At the halfway point of the Australian innings, Haynes had faced 60 deliveries for her 39 not out, but she reached a career-best ODI score of 130 off 131 after she and Lanning read the game to perfection. Their stand became Australia's second-highest for any wicket at a Women's World Cup. Lanning posted an excellent 86 off 110 in a contest that began as an arm-wrestle on a tacky pitch which made scoring difficult through the early stages.
Knight won the toss and opted to bowl first and, despite boasting a vastly experienced attack in Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, Kate Cross, Sciver and spinner Sophie Ecclestone, their failure to take wickets proved costly.
Amy Jones kept up to the stumps from the third over onwards, and the plan nearly paid off in the sixth when Alyssa Healy was nearly stumped. She punished anything short or overpitched, and managed to overturn an lbw decision on Sciver's third delivery, with ball-tracking showing it narrowly missed leg stump. Sciver struck three balls later, however, as Healy tried to clear midwicket and picked out Brunt, who took a straightforward catch.
At the end of the power play, Australia were 37 for 1 and, after 15 overs, their run rate was 3.86. At the end of the 16th, there had been just 31 scoring shots. But, with nine wickets in hand and 19 overs remaining, Haynes and Lanning were free to up the tempo and they did so without being rash.
Haynes swivelled and pulled Brunt for four behind square to bring up Australia's 200 and Lanning struck a powerful six off Brunt over deep midwicket. But Lanning finally fell when she slapped Brunt to Beaumont at point.
Beth Mooney arrived as Haynes brought up her century off 115 balls, turning a single off Cross towards midwicket. Mooney and Haynes took their partnership past fifty in just 29 deliveries as they set about carrying Australia towards the 300-mark and beyond.
Sciver put in a magnificent dive running in from midwicket which would have had Haynes out for 117, and, as if to rub it in, Haynes pulled Sciver for just the second six of the match in the next over. Haynes' knock finally came to an end two balls later when Sciver had her caught by Danni Wyatt at deep midwicket.
England's chase began terribly with struggling opener Lauren Winfield-Hill falling for a four-ball duck. Beaumont and Knight rebuilt with the ball coming onto the bat much more than it had during Australia's innings. Knight brought up their fifty stand by advancing down the pitch to Jonassen's first ball and lofting it over the rope at long-off.
After the power play England were 53 for 1 and tracking ahead of the curve. Beaumont raised her fifty off just 54 balls and she passed 3000 career ODI runs, becoming the fifth England Women's player to do so - and the fastest - reaching the mark in 78 innings compared to Sarah Taylor's 87.
Tahlia McGrath and Lanning combined to make a crucial breakthrough to dismiss Knight, who fell for 40 when she picked out the Austtralian skipper at cover.
King entered the attack in the 26th over and struck a short time later to remove Beaumont. Having made her international debut during the recent Ashes, King deceived Beaumont with a flighted gem that pitched outside leg stump and found the Healy's gloves outside off before she whipped of the bails for the stumping. As Beaumont trudged off, King roared and slapped the twin black armbands she wore in honour of Warne, and Marsh.
When King removed Jones and Wyatt cheaply, England had it all to do. They needed 88 off the last 10 overs as Sciver and Sophia Dunkley put on another fifty partnership to give England hope. But, no sooner had King worn a hard-hit straight drive from Dunkley on the ankle in her follow through, she bowled Dunkley round her legs with the very next ball.
Sciver and Brunt didn't let up though, and with three overs remaining, they needed 36 runs with Sciver reading the ball beautifully and batting with her trademark cool head.
The tension mounted as Sciver was put down at mid off in the penultimate over but, entrusted with bowling the last over, Jonassen's lightning reflexes kicked in to remove Brunt with the sharpest of return catches, thrusting her left hand out above her head, a deadpan look of shock on her face before breaking into a disbelieving smile. Jonassen then had Ecclestone caught off the final ball as England fell short.
