The growth of women's cricket has been exemplary in recent times, largely due to T20 cricket, but on the Women's T20 World Cup, though Australia sits atop, it has not been witnessed yet to be equaled.
A Synopsis Of Women's T20 World Cup History
The first Women's T20 World Cup was held in 2009 with eight teams competing. Then host nation England took the first title, beating New Zealand at the Lord's Cricket Ground. Both of the teams had gone unbeaten in the group stages since they beat Australia to reach the final. Here New Zealand's batting collapsed, and only 85 runs came out in their innings. They successfully chased it down with six wickets remaining and three overs to spare. Claire Taylor of England was designated the player of the tournament.
Since then, Australia has been the team to beat. The White Ferns/ New Zealand have made all eight finals ever contested, winning six and losing one. It was the West Indies in 2016 who finally defeated them.
Key Tournaments And Performances
In the 2010 West Indies edition, New Zealand performed impressively all the way through the group stages up to the semi-finals where they played the hosts and won by a margin of 56 runs. Then, Australia finally got the opportunity to step forward in the final even as they managed to win with a narrow margin of three runs from England, though managing a meager 106 runs altogether.
The tournament in Sri Lanka, in the year 2012, was conducted and for the very first time in the history of women's T20, a team managed to successfully defend their World Cup title, courtesy of defending champions, Australia, who defeated England in the thrilling final by four runs. Jess Jonassen's three-wicket haul was super, which proved to be crucial in earning the victory for them.
The tall order of competition in women's cricket led the ICC to increase the number of teams that competed in the Women's T20 World Cup to ten from 2014. This thus allowed powerhouse-rich nations like South Africa, India, and the West Indies an opportunity to face off against heavyweights like Australia, England, and New Zealand. Australia successfully defended its third consecutive T20 World Cup in 2014, when they defeated England by six wickets in Mirpur.
West Indies smashed Australia's dream run in 2016 to win the very first ICC T20 trophy. This was achieved through an excellent eight-wicket victory at Eden Gardens, leading with Hayley Matthews' explosive 66 at the front. Now, chasing the trail made by Australia had got them to score 148/5, such a moment would be remembered by West Indies cricket.
Australia regained the title in the 2018 edition of the tournament held under the banner of the West Indies and defeated England by eight wickets, with Alyssa Healy going on to score the most runs in that tournament.
In 2020, when the Indian women's cricket team finally qualified for their first T20 World Cup final, through the individual performances of Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur. They would go on to top their group heading to play their final against Australia at the MCG where they ultimately lost by 85 runs as Australia claimed their fifth T20 title.
The 2023 version saw Australia and South Africa reach the final after hard-fought semi-final victories. Australia were good once more as they sealed their second hat-trick of titles with a 19-run victory over South Africa.
Record Holders And Looking Ahead
Suzie Bates of New Zealand has scored the most runs so far in the Women's T20 World Cup, having notched up more than a thousand runs in just 36 matches. South African Shabnim Ismail tops the wicket-taking list, in which she has claimed 43 wickets in 32 matches.
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As we look into 2024, for which the Women's T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held in the UAE, one can see that the excitement witnessed in women's cricket does not seem to have an end. More competitive teams are out there, and the audience spreads all over the world.
At present, it looks like the upper hand is with Australia, but as far as the chase for the title is concerned, it seems wide open, and the dreams of young cricketers anywhere appear to be inspired to see their dreams come through on the field.