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What is the meaning of the term "juggernaut"?
The definition of a massive inexorable force is in the dictionary.
The Australia women's cricket team can lay claim to being the best sports team in the world.
The West Indies team from the mid-1970s to the mid 1990s were the only team in the history of cricket to not lose a Test series for 15 years, and the Australian team from the mid 1990s to the 2007 World Cup were the only team to win two World Cups.
A team that has won 37 out of 38 one-day internationals must qualify.
This is what Australia's women, led by Meg Lanning, have achieved since the beginning of the year, including a record 26 consecutive victories. England will have their work cut out in the final.
Here are the longest winning streaks for women.
| Wins | Team | Start | End |
| 26 | Australia | 12 Mar 2018 | 24 Sep 2021 |
| 17 | Australia | 12 Dec 1997 | 7 Feb 1999 |
| 16 | Australia | 25 Feb 1999 | 18 Dec 2000 |
| 16 | India | 7 Feb 2016 | 15 May 2017 |
| 13 | England | 19 Jul 1989 | 20 Jul 1991 |
The leaders are in men'sODIs.
| Wins | Team | Start | End |
| 21 | Australia | 11 Jan 2003 | 24 May 2003 |
| 12 | South Africa | 13 Feb 2005 | 30 Oct 2005 |
| 12 | Pakistan | 18 Nov 2007 | 8 Jun 2008 |
| 12 | South Africa | 25 Sep 2016 | 19 Feb 2017 |
| 11 | West Indies | 4 Jun 1984 | 2 Feb 1985 |
| 11 | Australia | 14 Mar 2007 | 28 Apr 2007 |
The most consecutive wins by any team is by Australia, who have won 21 in a row, but they were equalled by Tamil Nadu between 2009 and 2011.
Australia women's 26 comfortably beats anything a men's team have done.
Since the start of the year, Australia have been ahead of the pack.
No-results are not included in these figures. South Africa have won an impressive 69% of their matches, but this pales into insignificance compared to Australia.
Australia has had a run of success.
Australia have scored an average of 45.07 runs per wicket and 5.49 runs per over while allowing 20.82 runs per wicket and 4.12 runs per over.
They score an average of 274 for 6.1 and concede 206 for 9.9 in 50 overs, which is a comfortable 68-run margin and a high likelihood of bowling their opponents out.
Australia is the best in both categories, but they stand out in the bat.
Bangladesh is the next best in the bowling metrics, but they are last in the batting metrics, suggesting they played most of their matches in lower- scoring environments.
England are next in the rankings and may be a better comparison. Australia is better in bowling average and economy rate than England.
Australia's batting is better than any other team in terms of runs per wicket and runs per rate, and they are also better than New Zealand in terms of run-rate.
Their dominance in the batting department can be seen in their victories over India and South Africa in the World Cup.
In both matches, their opponents made more than 270, a total that had been successfully chased only four times before.
India and South Africa would have liked to stop it. Australia chased down both targets.
There are five Australian batters who average more than 40 in the last year, with a minimum of 500 runs.
Meg Lanning leads the way with 1,454 runs at 51.92, followed by Beth Mooney with 1,122 runs at 62.33, Ellyse Perry with 959 runs at 49.42, and Rachael Haynes with 1,529 runs at 44.
The top four in that list are all in the top 10 of averages.
Two Australians are in the top 10 of the averages, with Jess Jonassen second with 58 wickets at 14.94 and Sana Mir third with 34. Australian Megan Schutt made the 10th spot with 48 kills.
All of this suggests that Australia has a gameplan to score big runs and bowl better than the other teams.
When will the juggernaut stop crushing?
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