Women's T20 WC 2024 review: Of streaks broken and one-sided contests

Australia's invincible run halted

As has been the trend in global ICC tournaments in the Women's game since the start of the last decade, Australia entered the Women's T20 World Cup 2024 as firm favourites, having won a staggering six titles out of the eight previous editions, and never missing the final post their semi-final exit in the inaugural one in 2009. Remarkably, they had defeated three different teams in the last three finals, and entered 2024 with an 11-match winning streak in World Cups, and stretched it to 15 by the end of the first round.

However, they were comprehensively beaten by South Africa in the semi final - the team which had also beaten them in Canberra in January 2024 post which Australia Women had won 11 T20Is on the trot.

To measure how rare the semi-final defeat for Australia was, they have won 40 of their 49 matches in the T20 World Cup (81.63%) till date, including 13 of the 16 playoff games (81.25%). They have also won 20 of the 23 matches across the last four editions (87%).

Longest winning streaks in Women's T20 World Cup

15 - Australia Women (2020-2024)

7 - Australia Women (2010-2012)

7 - West Indies Women (2016-2018)

7 - England Women (2020-2023)

As it turned out, for the first time ever, a Women's T20 World Cup final featured neither Australia nor England (inaugural champions and three-time runners-up). India too, started as one of the favourites - at least for a semi-final spot - missed out, thereby ensuring that none of the top three sides in the ICC Women's T20I Rankings at the start of the competition made it to the title clash.

New Zealand's inspiring revival

Remarkably, New Zealand entered the competition on the back of 10 straight defeats in Women's T20Is, their longest losing streak in the format. They handed India a 58-run defeat in their opening game in Dubai, posting 160 for 4 batting first, the only 150-plus score across the first 10 matches of the competition.

Barring a hiccup against Australia - a 60-run defeat - New Zealand, powered by their dominating bowling performance enjoyed an impressive run, The batters too stepped up in the final to help them post 158 for 8. The White Ferns were the only team to post two 150-plus totals in the competition.

How Women's T20 WC champions fared in matches preceding the tournament

*Australia Women played just six matches between the 2009 and 2010 editions, and had lost five on the trot heading into the tournament in the Caribbean. Two of their three defeats in 10 matches preceding the 2020 and 2023 editions respectively had come in the Super Over.

Toss plays a decisive role

Toss played a crucial role in the tournament, the teams calling it right won 65.21% of the games, the highest ever in an edition. Of the eight matches lost by the team who won the toss, six featured a lower ranked side - Pakistan, Scotland (2), Sri Lanka (2) and Bangladesh - pinned against the higher ranked one. South Africa is the only other side to face defeat after having won the toss, which happened twice, against England in Sharjah and the final against New Zealand in Dubai.

Coincidentally, the most toss-friendly Men's T20 World Cup was also played in the UAE (in 2021), with teams who won the toss ending up on the victorious side across 30 out of the 45 matches, including the two semi-finals and the final. Majority of the 15 other matches featured lower-ranked teams against the top ones.

Powerplay - A decisive factor

Of the 11 matches won by the side batting first, nine featured the winning team outscoring their opponent in the PowerPlay, the exceptions being Australia's win over India in Sharjah (37/2 vs 41/2) and the final (43/1 vs 47/0). The average PowerPlay score in wins across these 11 matches was 42/1, while it was 32/2 in defeats.

Of the 12 matches won by the chasing side, 10 had the winning team outscoring their opponent in this phase, the exceptions being India's win against Pakistan in Dubai (25/1 vs 29/2) and England's against South Africa in Sharjah (28/1 vs 37/1). The average PowerPlay score for the side batting first in these games was 30/2, significantly inferior to the 43/1 in chases.

New Zealand lost just two wickets in the PowerPlay across their six matches, while South Africa and England lost three each. Every other team lost six or more wickets in this phase. Barring extras, only four teams ended up scoring at over run-a-ball in the competition - three of the four semi-finalists and England, Australia being a surprise exclusion.

Opening partnerships

A fair number of results were driven by the opening pairs' success in the tournament, with a mind-boggling gulf in averages for wins against defeats. The only 50-plus opening stand in a losing cause came in the final, between Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits, who formed the most prolific partnership in the tournament.

Opening partnerships in Women's T20 World Cup 2024

The opening pairs survived 6.1 overs on average in wins, compared to 2.5 overs in defeats.

Most partnership runs in a Women's T20 WC edition

Brits and Wolvaardt also became the only pair with three 50-plus stands in two different T20 World Cup editions (any wicket).

The dearth of boundaries

The boundary percentage (% of balls hit for boundary) in the Women's T20 World Cup 2024 was 9.51, the second-lowest for any edition after 9.49 in 2012, while the sixes percentage was the lowest at 0.76.

Highest boundary percentage in Women's T20 World Cup (by editions)

The eventual champions New Zealand were ranked only sixth out of ten teams in boundary percentage (8.70%, well below the tournament average of 9.51%) but excelled in strike rotation. In adverse weather conditions, which most of these participating teams are not previously accustomed to, coupled with slow wickets and slow outfields, strike rotation when the field spread out was as important - if not more - as the frequency of boundaries.

The White Ferns had a non-boundary strike rate of 75.0% - well clear of the tournament average of 64.8% and second-placed South Africa's 70.6%). This was particularly highlighted in two of their key victories in the tournament: in the league game against India they scored 86 non-boundary runs off 104 balls and in the final they hit 89 out off 107 balls, eventually helping them to post above-par totals.

Boundary percentages in Women's T20 World Cup 2024 (by teams)

Bowlers play a decisive role, again!

The second half of the final boiled down to the Best against the Best. South Africa headed into the contest as the best batting side in the competition in terms of average (39.37), their strike-rate of 113.51 only second to England's 115.14. New Zealand had been the standout bowling side in terms of average (13.58) and strike-rate (13.9).

And so, as has been the norm in T20 tournaments across the years, it was the bowlers who made a telling impact, with Amelia Kerr removing South Africa's mainstays from the semis, Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch in the 10th over to spring the game's decisive twist.

New Zealand's spinners had a way superior record during the competition compared to the other nine teams. In their only defeat - against Australia - their spinners went at nearly 8 RPO from 11 overs, compared to the overall tournament economy of 5.84.

Spin-bowling stats in Women's T20 World Cup 2024 (by teams - classified on the basis of average)

Spin-bowling stats in Women's T20 World Cup 2024 ( by results)

Amelia Kerr bagged 15 wickets from six games, the most for anyone in a single edition, and with it, also became the first player to win the Player of the Final and the Player of the Series in the same tournament. Nonkululeko Mlaba, the left-arm spinner was the standout bowler for South Africa, finishing with 12 wickets.

Most wickets in a Women's T20 WC edition

15 - Amelia Kerr (NZ-W) in 2024

13 - Anya Shrubsole (ENG-W) in 2014

13 - Megan Schutt (AUS-W) in 2020

12 - Nonkululeko Mlaba (SA-W) in 2024

11 - Julie Hunter (AUS-W) in 2012

11 - Sophie Ecclestone (ENG-W) in 2023

Game of fine margins? Not quite!

The T20 World Cup 2024 was filled with one-sided contests, with only three games going to the final over. Even in the three exceptions - Australia's nine-run win over India, England's seven-wicket win over South Africa and New Zealand's 8-run win over West Indies in the semi-final - it could be concluded that the winning team was ahead of their opponent for a majority of the second half of the game.

The average winning margin for the sides batting first was a whopping 41 runs, with five of these 11 matches being won by 54 runs or more. The 12 matches won by the chasing side had an average margin of 8 wickets and 27 balls (4.3 overs) to spare. Every successful run-chase was completed with no more than four wickets lost, with eight of the 12 games being won with seven or more wickets to spare.

For contrast, the 2023 edition played in South Africa had five of the 13 matches won by the side batting first with a margin of 6 runs or lower including the two semi-finals. The games won by the chasing sides were all one-sided contests, barring West Indies' six-wicket win off the penultimate ball against Ireland.