The Hundred opener becomes most viewed women's match on TV in the UK

Opening match of The Hundred between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals became the most-watched women’s cricket match on Television in the UK. England and Wales Cricket Board’s new format opened with the women’s competition between Invincibles and Originals at the Oval on Wednesday (July 21) and the match saw 1.95 peak audience tuning in for the event.

This is recorded highest figures for any women’s cricket match – both international and domestic – in the UK until now. England and India’s final T20I in the last week was the previous record with a peak audience of 1.24 m. The home side Invincibles beat Originals in a thriller that finished with only two balls to spare. The event was broadcasted across multiple channels and drew 3.8m people in the final moments. 35% of the viewers tuned in were female as per the report. The match was also recorded more than 180,000 views across various streaming platforms.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better start to The Hundred – a thrilling match which went down to the wire, a brilliant atmosphere inside the crowd with lots of families and children, and record figures watching at home,” Sanjay Patel, managing director, The Hundred, said.

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“The Hundred is all about throwing cricket’s doors open for everyone, and the response to last night’s game has been remarkable. We know this is only the first game and there is a still a lot of hard work ahead. We’re grateful to Sky for their long-term support for English cricket and especially The Hundred and are excited by the partnership with them and the BBC helping us to reach a broader audience.”

The next match of  tournament's women’s competition will be played between Birmingham Phoenix and London Spirit on July 23.