The ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 was a landmark tournament in the history of women’s cricket, setting new standards for attendances and viewing figures, for the breadth and depth of media coverage and in terms of capturing the public imagination. On field, the tournament also broke new ground.
The run rate at Australia 2020 was the highest for any edition of the tournament, and wickets came at a greater cost in terms of both runs and balls than in any previous year.
Year | RpW | BpW | RPO |
2009 | 18.65 | 18.33 | 6.11 |
2010 | 17.13 | 16.41 | 6.26 |
2012 | 17.34 | 18.28 | 5.69 |
2014 | 17.65 | 17.54 | 6.04 |
2016 | 18.64 | 18.65 | 6.00 |
2018 | 16.12 | 16.03 | 6.03 |
2020 | 20.28 | 18.92 | 6.43 |
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The average first innings total was eight runs higher than at any previous edition and the average winning first innings total exceeded 150 for the first time. South Africa's 195 for 3 against Thailand was a new Women's T20 World Cup record, as were the eight 150+ totals made throughout the tournament. In all, four of the ten highest Women's T20 World Cup totals ever were made during Australia 2020.
Women's T20 World Cup totals by year
Year | Avg 1st Inns total | Avg. winning 1st inns total | HS | 150+ totals | Inns/150+ |
2009 | 126.7 | 142.2 | 165 | 4 | 7.5 |
2010 | 129.9 | 141.5 | 180 | 5 | 6.0 |
2012 | 111.5 | 130.8 | 151 | 1 | 34.0 |
2014 | 129.2 | 141.2 | 191 | 7 | 7.7 |
2016 | 124.5 | 140.0 | 177 | 4 | 11.5 |
2018 | 125.1 | 142.7 | 194 | 6 | 7.3 |
2020 | 137.9 | 151.4 | 195 | 8 | 5.1 |
After just three centuries across the first six tournaments combined, 2020 was the first Women's T20 World Cup to feature two hundreds. The rate at which 50+ scores were made was also a new tournament record. The overall tournament batting average was a record high, and for the first time the average strike for batters was better than a run a ball.
Women's T20 World Cup batting stats by year
Year | M | HS | Avg. | SR | 100 | 50 | Inns/50+ | Inns/100+ |
2009 | 15 | 89* | 17.51 | 95.23 | 0 | 13 | 18.5 | - |
2010 | 15 | 112* | 15.99 | 96.92 | 1 | 9 | 25.9 | 259.0 |
2012 | 17 | 65* | 16.07 | 87.38 | 0 | 6 | 43.2 | - |
2014 | 27 | 126 | 16.75 | 95.19 | 1 | 17 | 24.9 | 449.0 |
2016 | 23 | 82 | 17.64 | 94.35 | 0 | 13 | 27.8 | - |
2018 | 22 | 103 | 14.98 | 93.36 | 1 | 14 | 24.9 | 374.0 |
2020 | 21 | 108* | 19.20 | 101.13 | 2 | 16 | 17.9 | 161.5 |
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These record scores were driven by an increase in boundary hitting. 2020 broke the record for most sixes hit at a single tournament, and both fours and sixes were hit at greater rates than at any previous edition. This was the first Women's T20 World Cup in which batters as a whole scored over 50% of their runs in boundaries.
Women's T20 World Cup boundary rates by year
Year | M | 4s | 6s | 4pM | 6pM | Bp4 | Bp6 | Bp4/6 | BR% |
2009 | 15 | 355 | 27 | 23.7 | 1.8 | 9.7 | 127.4 | 9.0 | 48.29 |
2010 | 15 | 280 | 53 | 18.7 | 3.5 | 12.4 | 65.7 | 10.5 | 42.61 |
2012 | 17 | 317 | 30 | 18.6 | 1.8 | 11.6 | 122.6 | 10.6 | 45.04 |
2014 | 27 | 610 | 57 | 22.6 | 2.1 | 10.3 | 110.3 | 9.4 | 46.50 |
2016 | 23 | 483 | 43 | 21 | 1.9 | 11.0 | 123.5 | 10.1 | 43.70 |
2018 | 22 | 440 | 75 | 20 | 3.4 | 11.1 | 65.1 | 9.5 | 48.51 |
2020 | 21 | 499 | 76 | 23.8 | 3.6 | 9.5 | 62.4 | 8.3 | 51.08 |
While the average bowling economy rate was what might be expected for the highest scoring tournament ever, the average strike rate was still in line with previous editions, despite the overall cost of a wicket at the tournament being higher than previous years.
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Women's T20 bowling stats per year
Year | M | O | Md | Wkt | BBI | Avg. | ER | SR | 4w | 5w |
2009 | 15 | 571.1 | 21 | 153 | 5/16 | 22.24 | 5.95 | 22.3 | 2 | 1 |
2010 | 15 | 577.0 | 12 | 169 | 4/11 | 20.91 | 6.12 | 20.4 | 5 | 0 |
2012 | 17 | 609.2 | 17 | 161 | 5/22 | 21.14 | 5.58 | 22.7 | 1 | 1 |
2014 | 27 | 1043.4 | 22 | 299 | 4/12 | 20.74 | 5.94 | 20.9 | 2 | 0 |
2016 | 23 | 883.0 | 12 | 238 | 5/8 | 21.81 | 5.88 | 22.2 | 5 | 1 |
2018 | 22 | 812.0 | 15 | 270 | 5/5 | 17.75 | 5.90 | 18.0 | 1 | 1 |
2020 | 21 | 788.1 | 13 | 226 | 4/16 | 21.99 | 6.30 | 20.9 | 5 | 0 |
This is because bowlers themselves took a greater proportion of overall dismissals than in previous tournaments, as run outs accounted for a record low percentage of dismissals. For the first time at a Women's T20 World Cup, fewer than 10% of dismissals were run outs. This is in line with general trends towards fewer run outs in women's cricket. The current 2017-21 ICC ODI championship cycle also has the lowest run out percentage (9.4%) of any ODI World Cup cycle (the 1982-88 cycle was the peak, with run outs accounting for an extraordinary 23% of all dismissals).
Women's T20 World Cup modes of dismissal
Year | Dismissals | Bwl% | LBW% | Ct% | St% | RO% | Oth% |
2009 | 187 | 23.5 | 9.6 | 43.3 | 5.3 | 18.2 | 0.0 |
2010 | 211 | 12.3 | 6.6 | 53.6 | 7.6 | 19.9 | 0.0 |
2012 | 200 | 12.0 | 6.5 | 51.0 | 10.5 | 19.5 | 0.5 |
2014 | 357 | 23.8 | 11.2 | 41.5 | 7.3 | 16.2 | 0.0 |
2016 | 284 | 19.0 | 12.3 | 45.1 | 7.4 | 16.2 | 0.0 |
2018 | 304 | 21.4 | 9.5 | 50.3 | 7.6 | 11.2 | 0.0 |
2020 | 250 | 18.8 | 9.6 | 53.6 | 8.4 | 9.6 | 0.0 |
Overall | 1793 | 19.2 | 9.6 | 47.9 | 7.7 | 15.4 | 0.1 |