7 Cricket Records Which Women Achieved Before Men In World Cup

The 2020 Women’s World T20 Final between hosts Australia and India was held at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground on the International Women’s Day, March 8, 2020.

With 86,174 strong crowd in attendance, the match set a new record for women’s sport in general and women’s cricket in particular. The match attendance of 86,174 is the highest attendance for a single women’s cricket match in the world breaking the previous record of around 80,000 who attended the 1997 Women’s World Cup in Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

The attendance figures were also the largest for any of the women’s sporting event in Australia beating the previous best of 53,034 at the Adelaide Oval for 2019 AFL Women’s Grand Final. Although the record for the highest attended women’s sporting event world-wide could not be breached (held by 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Rose Bowl, California, with a figure of 90,195), the tournament final was generally regarded as a huge success in terms of viewership as was the entire tournament itself.

The Australian Women’s team has qualified for the World T20 finals 6 times in 7 possible occasions, comfortably beating the men’s record of Sri Lanka appearing in the World T20 finals 3 times.

Not only was the tournament widely acclaimed to set new standards in women’s cricket with higher scores, better run-rates, more sixes and more balance between bat and ball, but the tournament also set a number of records, some of which outclassed even certain records held in the men’s edition of the World T20. In this article, we recap some of the men’s World T20 records that were broken by women not only in this tournament but also in all the previous editions put together.

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1. Most World Cup Finals played

The Australian Women’s team has qualified for the World T20 finals 6 times in 7 possible occasions, comfortably beating the men’s record of Sri Lanka appearing in the World T20 finals 3 times. The Australian Women’s team has only been knocked out once before the finals, in the inaugural edition in 2009 where England and New Zealand competed in the final. On the other hand, Sri Lanka men’s team appeared for the finals in 2009, 2012 and 2014 editions.

2. Most World T20 Titles Won

The Australian Women’s team also have enhanced their record of the most World T20 titles won across both men’s and women’s formats. This win in Melbourne led them to their fifth World T20 title. They had earlier won in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2018. They also made it to the final of the 2016 edition in India but lost to the West Indies in a thrilling encounter. On the other hand, the most times a men’s team has lifted the trophy is only twice with West Indies winning the trophy in 2012 and 2016, beating Sri Lanka and England respectively.

3. Quickest Half-Century in Finals of a World Tournament in all Formats

Alyssa Healy’s half-century in only 30 balls is also the quickest half-century in a final of a global tournament in any format, both among men and women. She eventually went on to score 75 off 39 balls and was adjudged as the Player of the Match. She surpassed the men’s record of a half-century in 32 balls set by India’s Hardik Pandya against Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy final.

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4. Highest Score in the World T20 Final

Australia’s 184 runs in the 2020 World T20 final is the highest score in World T20 finals – both men and women. The previous best was 157 runs scored by the Indian men’s team against Pakistan in the 2007 World T20. The previous highest score in a Women’s World T20 finals was 149/2, made by West Indies against Australia in the 2016 finals to chase down the target of 148.

Power!

With the Men’s World T20 coming up later this year, it will be interesting to see which records are broken by men again and which records will be held onto by women.

5. Most Matches Played in World T20

Australian Ellyse Perry has appeared in a total of 36 matches in World T20, taking the crown from Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan, who appeared in 34 matches and currently holds the record in the men’s edition. Ellyse Perry has featured in this tournament since the inaugural edition in 2009 and overtaken Tillakaratne Dilshan during Australia’s final league game against New Zealand. If she would have featured in the semi-final and final, she would have stretched her World T20 appearances to 38. The next on the list is Shahid Afridi and Alyssa Healy with 34 appearances each.

6. Most Wickets in World T20 matches

With 41 wickets in World T20 matches, England’s Anya Shrubsole is the highest wicket-taker in World T20 matches among both men and women. She broke the previous record of 39 wickets taken by Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi against West Indies, where she also took her 100th wicket in this format. The next in the list are Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga with 38 wickets and Australian Ellyse Perry with 37. If Ellyse Perry had played in the semi-finals and final, even she would have been in a good position to break the men’s record held by Shahid Afridi.

7. Highest Individual Score in World T20

Although not from this edition, one must remember the Australian captain Meg Lanning’s knock of 126 runs in 65 balls against Ireland in the 2014 edition. The score of 126 is the highest individual score in World T20 matches for both men and women put together. She had reached the landmark breaking Brendon McCullum’s record of 123 off 58 balls against Bangladesh in the 2012 edition of Men’s World T20.

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These records just indicate the progress made in women’s cricket over the last few years, where they have gone on to not only match men’s records but even surpass them on occasions. It is another testament to the quality of cricket at women’s level which is able to break the benchmark set by men’s cricket. Cheers to Women’s Cricket! Cheers to Girl Power!

With the Men’s World T20 coming up later this year, it will be interesting to see which records are broken by men again and which records will be held onto by women. With many record-holders of men’s cricket already retired, it is safe to say that most of these records broken by women cricketers will be retained by them and they will again prove their dominance over their male counterparts.

Image Credit: Twitter/BCCIWomen

This article was published first on Female Cricket.