Highlights of the Group Stage from ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026
ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026
The Group Stage of this year's Women's T20 World Cup is finally over giving us our eventual four participants who will compete in the Knockout Stage to decide the ultimate champion. Hosts England and West Indies advanced from Group B while Australia and South Africa topped the tougher Group A. You can check out the previews of Group A and B where I predicted the final four teams correctly before the start of the tournament.
This was the first time 12 sides competed in any ICC Women's cricket tournament giving us many memorable moments in a highly competitive WT20 World Cup edition. Although the favorites proceeded to the next round without breaking a sweat, the quality of cricket was much better than what we have seen in the past competitions. Countries like Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland gave their opponents a scare whereas West Indies and Sri Lanka combined to dump defending champions out of the competition at the initial hurdle.
We will now talk about the highlights of the World Cup so far after the end of Group Stage. The below list includes the different positives I saw in the first round.
Scotland register maiden World Cup win, Netherlands impress
With the ICC expanding the Women's T20 World Cup to include twelve teams, the Associate nations were handed a lifeline with four qualifying spots available in the Global Qualifiers conducted in Nepal early this year. Scotland and Netherlands grabbed the chance along with Ireland and Bangladesh sealing the top four spots in Super Six Stage. Ireland had already played in the previous edition but Netherlands became the latest debutants and the 13th contestant to ever feature in the Women's T20 World Cup.
Scotland lost all four matches in the unfamiliar conditions of UAE two years ago by huge margins. This year they entered the tournament with good practice playing a total of 21 games and a Win/Loss ratio of 3.2 since the preceding World Cup, the third-best after Ireland and Australia. Scotland started the tournament alongside arch-rivals Ireland against whom they had lost 9 and won 6 until the Bryce sisters stitched a 106 run partnership at Old Trafford, Manchester pushing the team's score to 161. After being forced to bat, captain Kathryn Bryce led from the front with a 60 off 39 balls and her sister Sarah added 49 off 35. They both weren't done as Kathryn took two wickets with the ball and Sarah stumped the opposing captain Gaby Lewis before combining with Katherine Fraser to run out their star-allrounder Orla Prendergast. Spinners Kirstie Gordon and Fraser combined to take three wickets each handing Scotland their inaugural win at the T20 World Cup by 40 runs even before Ireland could muster one in 18 attempts.
The Scottish Women could not attain another scalp but the European nation ran every opponent close and put up some fantastic performances to give their fans joyous memories from this tournament. Playing in familiar English conditions, Scotland almost pulled off a chase of 154 against West Indies thanks to Darcey Carter and Ailsa Lister only to implode in the last two overs and lose the game by 7 runs. England posted a score of 200 in the first innings but the Scottish Women out up a brave reply with the bat to post their highest score in Women's T20 World Cup of 16 with the whole line-up contributing. Another Carter special lifted their score to 131 versus defending champions New Zealand and they dismissed the White Ferns' top three early but could not find a way through Izzy Sharp and Brooke Halliday only to lose the game with 10 balls remaining.
Scotland had a golden chance to secure an automatic qualification to the next T20 World Cup in 2028 by beating Sri Lanka and their batters did a great job by posting 151 in the first innings. Post an attacking start by Sri Lanka, their bowlers swung the game in Scotland's favor but the inexperience to close out the game in the last two overs cost Scotland a historic win as they lost the game by 3 wickets with one ball remaining. The Scottish cricketers participate regularly in England's domestic cricket qualifying as local cricketers and they almost lived up to the experience. Opener Darcey carter and wicket-keeper Sarah Bryce top scored with 208 and 159 runs respectively although they could do better in terms of Strike Rates going forward. Skipper Kathryn Bryce, former England international Kirstie Gordon, all-rounder Katherine Fraser and Left-arm seamer Rachel Slater were the pick of their bowlers. The lack of firepower at the lower order and support from their fifth/sixth bowler are some areas of improvement coach Craig Wallace can target.
The other Associate country who were making their bow in the Women's T20 World Cup this year were the Netherlands. The team in Orange created history at the Global Qualifiers coming into this tournament as the camp with most T20I matches since the previous World Cup and even defeated Bangladesh in a T20I just before the start of this edition. Flying high on confidence they faced the Asian nation again in their opening encounter posted a score of 139 after opting to bat thanks to captain Babette de Leede's 50. They were unlucky not to get the wicket of Juairiya Ferdous in the second over when third umpire ruled a catch by Sterre Kallis at mid-wicket in favor of the batter although there was some evidence suggesting the catch was a clean one. Ferdous' quickfire 50 took the game away from the Dutch Women. They did mount a strong comeback by taking four quick wickets in 25 balls but an intelligent partnership between Sharmin and Shorna Akhter gave Bangladesh a 6-wicket win in the last over.
Their next three games saw them concede totals of 209, 219 and 208 agin India, Australia and South Africa respectively which they lost by a margin of 95, 98 and 88 runs. The most memorable moment for Netherlands came when their skipper de Leede registered a score of 56* against Australia and Kallis also added a precious 44. A maiden fifty-run opening partnership followed in the South Africa game. Their bowlers did a fantastic job in the concluding Group match alongside Pakistan limiting their opponents to a meagre score of 126. The opening gave a rapid start scoring 31 in 3.2 overs but the batting collapsed when facing the quality of Pakistani spinners ending the tournament winless. Their captain Babette de Leede top-scored with 174 runs in 5 games with two fifties and their most experienced batter Sterre Kallis breached the hundred run mark in the competition. Opener Heather Siegers had the highest Strike Rate of 116.66. Leg-spinner Caroline De Lange who had famously quit the her job as a doctor to fulfill her World Cup Dream took 7 wickets while seamer Iris Zwilling did a decent job in the powerplay and the death becoming the original Dutch Women bowler to secure a maiden in T20 World Cups. Netherlands could not register a win in the first attempt but they showed excellent character and will revel in this feeling of sharing the field with the legends of the game until we see them again.
Sri Lanka record three wins for the first time in T20 World Cup
Sri Lanka and Pakistan are the only two nations who have been part of the Women's World Cup since it's inception in 2009 to never make it past the Group Stage. Sri Lanka's 36-year old Chamari Athapaththu, who is one of the seven Women cricketers to play in every edition of the T20 World Cup had her eyes set on fulfilling this improbable task of creating history in a tough Group B featuring England, New Zealand, West Indies, Scotland and Ireland. They were given a reality check in the opening match of the tournament by the hosts. A 135-run partnership between their openers helped England score 219 in their allotted 20 overs which became the highest ever score in the Women's T20 World Cup history. Amy Jones scored 53 but the highlight of the innings was Danni Wyatt-Hodge's 105* off 62 balls becoming only the seventh centurion in ICC Women's T20 World Cups. Captain Nat-Sciver Brunt added a rapid 46* off 22 balls. The batting collapsed once their captain got out playing a cross-batted slog-sweep as they lost the game by 87 runs with the experience Nilakshika Silva's 39 being the top-score.
Sri Lanka's next fixture was with the title holders New Zealand. The Kiwis opted to bat in an evening game at Southampton as the Lankan bowlers put on a much improved show limiting the White Ferns to 150. A minor collapse saw Sri Lanka going from 45-0 to 55-4 but Kavisha Dilhari and Nilakshika arrested the slide with a 50-run partnership. Wicket-keeper Kaushani Nuthyangana came in post Dilhari's unfortunate run-out with Sri Lanka needing 48 off 30 balls. The two Women ran hard between the wickets and picked the field with immense precision guiding their side to a maiden victory over New Zealand in any World Cup ever. Nilakshika won the Player of the Match thanks to her 54*. The fire which was ignited post this win fizzled early when the met West Indies at Bristol. Captain Hayley Matthews set the tone with the ball taking three wickets in her first two overs as Sri Lanka surrendered at a score of 98. The Sri Lankan spinners tried hard but a target of 99 was too comfortable for the Caribbean Women.
Their captain and champions player Chamari Athapaththu conducted an emotional press-conference post the 4-wicket loss admitting that "she felt like a failure as a captain" after being unable to take her team to the semi-finals of an ICC tournament throughout her playing career. Athapaththu unloaded the burden she felt in the previous game by completing a 134-run chase against Ireland with a 106* off 61 balls leading from the front. Her fourth T20I century and first at the T20 World Cups meant she became the highest century-scorer in T20Is among full-member countries in the process.
Mithali Ayodhya bowled with an economy of 4.86 in the powerplay at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026
Their opponents Scotland had a chance of securing an automatic berth at the next T20 World Cup with a win versus the Asian country. Scotland was asked to bat and they registered a solid score of 151 on the board led Sarah Bryce's 47*. Sri Lanka were off the blocks quickly with the bat but Chamari's wicket slowed down the proceedings as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. With 17 needed in the last 12 balls, Nilakshika again showed her experience taking crucial runs in here 21* off 21 balls without a single boundary. A three-wicket win in their concluding Group game saw Sri Lanka create history as they ended the World Cup with three wins, their most in any T20 World Cup. Sri Lanka can be really proud of their journey, missing out narrowly on the semi-final spot due to an inferior Net Run Rate caused by heavy defeats to England and West Indies. But with a young and inexperienced bowling attack, the squad performed better than everyone's expectations. Nilakshika Silva was undoubtedly their best player delivering a few clutch knocks and top-scoring in three games for the team. The emergence of their 19-year old slingy pacer Mithali Ayodhya who bowled with an economy of 6.47 should also hold them in good stead.
Vice-captain Charlie Dean helps accomplish an unbeaten run for the hosts
England were hosting the T20 World Cup for the first time since the inaugural event in 2009 where they were crowned as the maiden champions. The memories from that edition gave hope to home fans of a repeat 17 years after it was originally achieved. England was being led by their star all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt who had suffered a calf injury before the start of the World Cup as she returned for them in the initial game and led the side to a 87-run victory against Sri Lanka in the opening encounter scoring a 46* off 22 under the shadow of Danni Wyatt-Hodge's match-winning 105*.
England stopped their neighbors Ireland to a low score of 118 after winning the toss. Three wickets fell early for the hosts and their skipper led the chase in a hard-fought manner on a pitch which had enough help for the bowlers. Once they reached a score of 110, Nat suddenly retired out leaving everyone surprised as she walked out retired without calling for help from the physios. England won the match by four wickets but the medical team confirmed the bad news ruling their regular captain out for a couple of Group games. Vice-captain Charlie Dean who had won the three-match series with New Zealand and India before this year's competition was again trusted with the armband.
Charlie Dean holds a brilliant record of 7-2 in the 9 games she has captained England
England brushed aside familiar foes Scotland easily with a 38-run victory, posting a score of 200 when Scotland asked them to bat. Sophia Dunkley who replaced Nat Sciver-Brunt hit a crucial 57 and won the Player of the Match award on a brilliant Leeds batting deck. England continued their excellent run against West Indies at The Lord's Cricket Ground thanks to a 65 by Wyatt-Hodge and 43 by Heather Knight. Chasing a score of 187, West Indies fell short by a comfortable margin of 38 runs with captain Dean taking 2-31. England secured a ticket to the semi-final with this win.
The management decided not to risk Sciver-Brunt in the last Group Stage fixture versus New Zealand who were fighting for a spot in the knockouts. In a virtual quarter-final, the Kiwis opted to bat at The Oval. Contributions from captain Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine and others pushed the final score to 163 on a flat surface. Dean used her bowling options wisely as the current champions found it difficult to score freely in all phases of their batting innings. Wyatt-Hodge top scored again with 89* accumulating 282 runs in the Group Stage, the highest among all players. Dunkley supported her with a 49* as a 128-run unbeaten partnership gifted England a nine-wicket victory and ended New Zealand's campaign. England's unbeaten record stayed intact with the whole group contributing at different junctures. Once Nat Sciver-Brunt returns for the semi-finals, it will make the hosts title favorites on current form.
Treasured Marizanne Kapp keeps South Africa alive
The Proteas Women completed a hat-trick of second place finish in the previous three ICC events including the 2023 and 2024 T20 World Cups. Led amicably by Laura Wolvaardt, the South African team brought one of the most experienced squads in this year's tournament especially post the return of Shabnim Ismail and Dane Van Niekerk. Many pundits named them the strongest contender for the 2026 World Cup and rightly so given the depth they possessed with both bat and ball. One of the major reasons behind the resurgence of this line-up in the past few years has been the 36-year old all-rounder Marizanne Kapp.
South Africa started the campaign with a lackluster 65-run defeat to Australia, whom they defeated in preceding T20 World Cup's semi-finals. Except for Nonkululeko Mlaba and Kapp to an extent, every Proteas bowler struggled as Australia posted 172 on the board after deciding to bat on Saturday evening in Manchester. The chase never got going and Australia decimated them for 107, a defeat which caused major damage to South Africa's Net Run Rate. The squad needed some inspiration in their next match against Pakistan which came in form of Marizanne Kapp. Kapp started the match with a double-wicket over and then added a third immediately to leave the opponents at 14-3. A Fatima Sana special lifted Pakistan to 126 from 50-8 but the target was still an easy one. South Africa's rustiness was again visible as they lost 8 wickets in the pursuit and if not for Annerie Dercksen's 52 and a 37 by Nadine De Klerk, South Africa would have found it tough to chase the score successfully.
Marizanne Kapp became the first player to score a 70+ score and taking 2 wickets in Women's T20 World Cups
A do-or-die India fixture who defeated South Africa in the 2025 50-over World Cup awaited them in Manchester. India opted to bat and started swiftly but Kapp got the important wicket of Smriti Mandhana in the third over. India was unable to continue the momentum scoring only 158 as Kapp bowled an excellent last over which included the wicket of the dangerous Richa Ghosh. Indian bowlers choked the Proteas batters early in the powerplay and took two wickets in the sixth over with the score being 25. Kapp joined hands with Tazmin Brits as both players started to re-build slowly. Once the asking rate started to touch double figures, Kapp hit a four and a six in the tenth over. The beauty of her innings was how she played the field and found boundaries at required interval removing the pressure from Brits entirely in a 97-run partnership. Kapp went over the off-side scooped a few to fine leg, swept the ball behind square, even targeting straight down the ground, putting on a masterclass to help South Africa win the game by six wickets and strengthening their chances of a top-two finish.
Kapp's 81* off 45 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes combined with 2 wickets got her a Player of the Match award as India's Radha Yadav gave her a life twice. They won by 88 runs in the next game but got nervous in a must-win match versus Bangladesh. Kapp's spell of 1-9 in four overs stopped the sub-continent team to 117, a total which South Africa chased with four balls remaining struggling to face the spinners. Kapp got run out for a 21 ball 16 but her contributions in the India and Pakistan matches showed she has still got it. Kapp who has been part of each T20 World Cup since 2009 also completed her 100 T20I wickets. Australia's 6-wicket win in the last Group Stage match against India helped South Africa reach the semi-finals in an under-par display of cricket.
West Indies thank their stars as they stumble into the Semis
Hosts England and Title-holders New Zealand were the two sides expected to top the Group B until a passionate West Indies came calling. Playing their opening match at Southampton, West Indies asked the White Ferns to bat in a night game. Missing their key players Stafanie Taylor and Chinelle Henry, West Indies were set a modest target of 163. Aaliyah Alleyne's 4-27 brought down the scoring rate for New Zealand who looked set to score in excess of 175 at one point. The Windies team found an unlikely hero in their No. 3 Shemaine Campbelle with a highest of 45 in 122 innings before this match. Campbelle added 74 wicket captain Hayley Matthews, 40 with Deandra Dottin and an unbeaten 37 with Jahzara Claxton helping her camp to a victory with one balls remaining. West Indies were helped by a pathetic fielding exhibition from New Zealand who dropped about 6 catches and missed a stumping. The highlight of Campbelle's innings was her takedown of Amelia Kerr and the way she calculated the chase scoring a 62 ball 90*, doubling her previous highest score in T20Is.
Stefanie Taylor, their highest run-scorer in T20I cricket returned to play the Scotland match in an unfamiliar finishing role. Their batters fared poorly playing at 6 per over until the 14th over. Once Taylor entered to bat she took apart the Scottish bowling in the closing four overs adding 51 runs for West Indies. Taylor's 47* off 19 balls proved the difference in a 7-run win. Scotland's Darcey carter and Ailsa Lister kept them in the hunt until the 19th over when the pressure of the asking rate finally told. Alleyne delivered a three-wicket over to derail the chase. West Indies opted to bowl in the next match against Sri Lanka and it was the turn of their captain Hayley Mathews to put her hand up. She left Sri Lanka 9-3 as the batting never recovered from the early blow and could conjure up a score of only 98 which West Indies chased in the 17th over.
West Indies will be playing in the T20 Word Cup knockout stages for the seventh time
West Indies needed one more win to secure their place in the top two standings of Group B thanks to a special Sri Lankan win over New Zealand. They clashed with table toppers England next at the Lord's Cricket Ground and got brushed aside by 38 runs in a dominant display. A winless Ireland awaited them in a must-win match at Bristol. The Irish Women opted to bowl and West Indies were trapped by the spinners Cara Murray and Aimee Maguire finishing with an under-par 128. West Indies employed 14.1 overs of spin themselves but a special 63 by Prendergast gave Ireland their maiden T20 World Cup victory in 22 attempts on a special night suddenly gifting New Zealand a chance to take the second spot but England spoilt the party with a nine-wicket win as West Indies huffed and puffed their way to the semi-finals.
Race for the semi-finals goes till the last mile
The format for this year's World Cup was quite simple. 12 teams divided in two Groups of 6 and the top two from each Group advancing to the semi-finals. Group A comprised of Australia, India, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Netherlands. Group B featured hosts England, defending champions New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Scotland. Group A was considered as the Group of Death as Australia, South Africa and India had a fair chance to upset each other. England and New Zealand were expected to finish as the top two in Group B.
In the very first match of West Indies and New Zealand, a spirited Caribbean eleven attained a closely fought 7-wicket win. New Zealand's fielding was the biggest culprit on the night, dropping six catches and a missed stumping. If the defeat to West Indies was not enough, they continued their under-par display against Sri Lanka in the next game. Setting them a target of 151, the Kiwi fielders put down three more catches in the outfield including the match-winner Nilakshika Silva on 1. Sri Lanka registered their maiden win vs New Zealand in an ICC tournament winning the match by six wickets.
The two semi-finals will be played at The Oval on Tuesday and Thursday respectively
Although England finished with a five-match unbeaten run, the other teams continued their musical chairs. West Indies won an easy match versus Sri Lanka as Sri Lanka bounced back with successive victories but an inferior Net Run Rate left them out of the semi-final contention until the final two Group B matches. West Indies' defeat to England meant their match with a winless Ireland became a must-win but Ireland sprung a surprise victory at Bristol in the penultimate Group B game as New Zealand were suddenly blessed with a chance to proceed ahead in case they win their last Group match. New Zealand posted 163 on a lifeless Oval pitch as England batters won the match comfortably by 9-wickets. England and West Indies progressed to the semi-finals finishing as one and two in the Group.
Group A was supposed to a three-horse race between Australia, South Africa and India. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Netherlands only acted as participants in this Group never threatening the stronger oppositions. Australia began with a commanding win against South Africa immediately hurting their Net Run Rate in case of a three-way tie in the points table and continued their unbeaten run in the four games. South Africa survived the next fixture with Pakistan until Marizanne Kapp brought out her A-game and won the match versus India single-handedly to hand her side the advantage. The Proteas Women recorded a third consecutive win against Netherlands and faced Bangladesh in the penultimate Group Stage match of this year's competition.
Needing to win the game, South Africa completed a nervous chase of 118 very carefully in the last over with four balls remaining. South Africa knew their fate still lied in the hands of Australia because if India won the closing Group Stage match of this year's World Cup versus Australia, South Africa will be eliminated due to inferior Net Run Rate. India opted to bat on a good batting wicket at The Lord's Cricket Ground and captain Harmanpreet Kaur's death over blitz took India to a respectable total of 170. Needing a win to survive in the competition, India started with a wicket in the opening over brought the required rate over 10 at the end of 12th over with the scorecard reading 85-3. Australia's Ashleigh Gardner and Ellyse Perry had different ideas. A 100-run partnership took Australia close to victory led by Perry's 56 and Gardner's 53*. Georgia Wareham swung the bat towards the off-side at the end of the 19th over knocking India out of the competition. The exciting Group Stage concluded giving us the final four Australia, England, South Africa and West Indies. Australia and West Indies will play the first semi-final on Tuesday followed by England vs South Africa on Thursday, both the matches scheduled at The Oval. Lord's will host the final on Sunday with Australia favorites to win their seventh T20 World Cup medal.
Honorable mentions
Fatima Sana and Shree Charani shine in disappointing team campaigns
There is a common understanding in the Women's game for players like Chamari Athapaththu, Nigar Sultana and Fatima Sana. All these players stand-out as world-class but the sides they represent lack a similar flair due to which they never get a chance to shine and collect ICC trophies in major tournaments. Pakistani captain Fatima Sana once again showed the world her class in an otherwise poor journey for her nation. Following a quiet match against arch-rivals India, Pakistan played South Africa at Birmingham. A Marizanne Kapp special combined by some careless running left Pakistan 50-8. Tuba Hassan joined her captain Sana in a surrender situation hoping to add some respectable runs. Sana guided her partner and took the whole responsibility on herself taking the innings deep and finding some crucial boundaries. In the last over of the innings, Sana took apart Nadine de Klerk for a couple of sixes and four scoring a world-class 55* as Pakistan scored 126.
She was not done yet. Sana forced an inside edge by Sune Luus onto the stumps with her second ball. As the game almost slipped through their grasp, Sana came to bowl the 17th over with 4 needed and six wickets down. She removed Jafta on the second ball and then Nadine De Klerk caught behind but a wide gave South Africa a two-wicket victory leaving Sana in tears after a heroic effort. Sana took two more wickets versus Bangladesh but failed with the bat. In their final Netherlands game, Sana led the side to their first win with shrewd use of her bowlers before delivering a killer blow with a three-wicket maiden. This lion-hearted effort earned Sana her debut franchise gig with Birmingham Phoenix in the upcoming Hundred and at 24 years hopefully she gains more recognition in the future.
India's Shree Charani made her International debut an year ago in the ODI format against Sri Lanka and earned her T20I cap two months later in England. Charani's performances suddenly made here jump the queue and become a regular part of the Indian Women squad. Charani took 14 wickets at an economy of 4.96 in India's 2025 title winning 50-over World Cup. A similar trajectory in the shortest format meant the 21-year old left-arm spinner played all five matches in this year's T20 World Cup.
Charani started the competition with 3-21 against Pakistan driving home the momentum created by Deepti Sharma as the batting collapsed for a score of 106. In the game versus Netherlands, Charani took three wickets in her last over securing her best bowling figures of 4-12. Shree Charani was the only resistance South Africa faced with the ball. Her four overs included wickets of captain Wolvaardt, Dercksen and de Klerk and a maiden over but poor fielding cost India the match. Two more wickets in each of the concluding two games meant Shree Charani ended the World Cup as the highest-wicket taker in the Group Stage. 14 wickets @ 8.36 with an economy of 5.85 are elite numbers in the history of any World Cup with Charani finishing as second in terms of Most Wickets at a single Women's T20 World Cup edition behind 15 by Amelia Kerr in 2024. Unfortunately, a Group Stage exit for India robbed Charani's chance of creating history but nevertheless with Deepti Sharma and Shree Charani, India's spin-bowling stocks are looking good.
Tazmin Brits brings up 500 T20 World Cup runs with a special century
The 35-year old opener was not included in the playing XI in first two matches of the World Cup as the management decided to prefer South Africa's most experienced T20I cricketer Sune Luus as Laura Wolvaardt's opening partner. That particular plan was shelved after Luus scored 1 & 5. Brits was recalled as the opener after the same pair took South Africa to the final of the 50-over World Cup in 2025. Brits started with a brisk 40 in a must-win match with India supporting Marizanne Kapp in a tricky chase as the Proteas lost their two wickets in the powerplay. That 97-run partnership gave the much needed stability to the chase and laid the platform for Kapp to secure a magnificent run-chase.
South Africa's next fixture at Bristol was with the Dutch whom they were facing for the first time in a T20 International. Netherlands asked them to bat and both openers played risk-free cricket scoring 66 in the powerplay without losing a wicket. Brits was particularly brutal on the debutants scoring seven boundaries on both sides of the wicket. She got lucky when a simple catch was dropped on 46 by the cover fielder. Brits did not let the reprieve affect her flow as she reached her fifty in the 11th over. She shifted gears beautifully post the wicket of her partner Laura as a flurry of boundaries took here to 83 in the 15th over. Brits hit her first six when she was on 94* to bring up here maiden T20I ton in the 18th over becoming the second South African after Lizelle Lee to score a T20 World Cup century. She hit two more sixes in the next over to finish with 114*. Brits was the highest run-scorer for South Africa in just three games with 174 runs sending a strong statement post her return to the team.
Bangladesh win two on their maiden visit to England
It has been a long road for Bangladesh Women who are rarely afforded chances to face the likes of Australia, New Zealand and England. The Asian side has played only one bi-lateral series with both Australia and New Zealand in both ODI and T20I formats but never faced England apart from the ICC tournaments. The team has improved leaps and bounds in the past few years registering important wins against the likes of India and South Africa in both white-ball formats. Bangladesh even ran England, South Africa and Sri Lanka close in the 2025 ODI World Cup but failed to close out those games.
Their record in the T20 World Cups has been modest with three wins in 25 games until 2024. Bangladesh were visiting England for the first time ever and they prepared for the World Cup with a tri-series featuring hosts Scotland and Netherlands where they lost to both the participants once. The expectations from this camp was quite low coming into this tournament given their weakness in producing quality fast bowlers except the young Marufa Akhter. Bangladesh started their journey against debutants Netherlands at Birmingham in a day game. Opting to bat the Dutch Women scored 139 which they chased comfortably thanks to a brilliant fifty by their aggressive opener Juairiya Ferdous. Bangladesh totally surrendered on a pace-friendly Leeds pitch versus Australia scoring 77-8 in the 20 overs which Australia chased in 9.3 overs.
Bangladesh faced arch-rivals Pakistan for only the second time in T20 World Cups at Southampton choosing to bat . Nigar Sultana guided her side after a poor start but it was a classy 39* off 22 balls from Shorna Akhter which gave them a respectable score of 123. The Pakistani openers started in fine fashion scoring 41-0 in the powerplay. In the middle overs, their spinners totally choked the Pakistani batters forcing a flurry of dot balls which build pressure resulting in quick wickets. The finish from their captain Fatima Sana never came giving Bangladesh their second win in the competition by 23-runs, the first time ever in T20 World Cups. Their top order batted well against India but the bowlers could not contain Shafali Verma as the chase ended in 17 overs. In their last game versus South Africa, their batters struggled but the spinners made a target of 118 very difficult in their debut match at the Lord's cricket stadium. South Africa lost 6 wickets and won the game with four balls remaning. captain Nigar Sultana top-scored as always with 127 runs and Nahida Akhter took 6 wickets but there was no clear stand-out player as it was more of a team effort.
Australia storm into the semis
The Australian Women cricket team are always considered as favorites in any competition they participate in and the results have shown the same. They are six-time T20 World Cup winners while no other country has won this tournament twice. Australia are under-going a slight transition since the retirements of their two great Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy as they have not reached the final of the past two ICC tournaments. Led by Sophie Molinuex this time, Australia were being doubted by a few experts for a Group Stage exit given the likes of South Africa and India as their opponents in a tough Group A.
All those doubts were laid bare in the opening game were they routed the South African's by 65 runs. Phoebe Litchfield score a 24-ball 50 while Georgia Wareham 32 runs and 3 wickets earned her a Plyer of the Match award. Litchfield was ruled out of the next two matches but that hardly affected the team's morale. Their pace attack destroyed Bangladesh limiting their score to 77-8 chasing the same in 9.3 overs. A joint highest score in the T20 World Cup history of 219 against Netherlands helped Ashleigh Gardner get back to form. Beth Mooney was retired hurt after scoring 74 and Georgia Voll took the gloves for the first time in International cricket due to a lack of back-up wicket-keeper in the squad in a match they won by 98 runs showing the depth of this team. Pakistan were slapped with a 113-run loss in traditional Aussie style. Perry hit 71 and took two wickets for a second Player of the Match award.
The last match of the Group Stage was a must-win for India at Lord's and Harmanpreet Kaur brought out the best against her favorite opponents coring 56 off 27 balls. India did well with the ball for 11 overs post which both Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Garner cut loose adding a 100-run partnership. The game ended in the 19th over as India were knocked out and Australia remained unbeaten improving their credentials before the semi-final. Perry won her third POTM award making her the front-runner for the MVP of this tournament.
Traveling fans light up the World Cup
The best part about this World Cup being hosted in England was the fact that European nations like Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands had a chance of seeing their supporters in huge numbers. The Asian contingent has always been well represented in all cricketing countries but this edition added a much needed fan flair for the newer contestants as well thanks to close proximity in distance.
The record for a crowd attendance in a Women's T20 World Cup Group Stage got broken three times this year. India vs Pakistan on June 14 recorded the highest attendance of 18,814 at Edgbaston which was surpassed by the England vs New Zealand match on June 27 at The Oval where 21,018 fans showed up to watch the match. In the final group match between Australia and India on June 28 a record crowd of 27,163 created an all-time record for the Group Stage attendance in all Women's World Cups.
But it's not just the numbers which made teams marvel at their supporters. For the Dutch Women who were making their debut in the T20 World Cups, the famous "Orange Army" were present in every game. Scotland enjoyed the support of their local fans who also travelled in large numbers to the neighboring country and see their side register a famous maiden victory in T20 World Cups versus Ireland. The Irish crowd gathered in every game for their International team and after a losing run of four matches, they finally got to witness history when Ireland defeated West Indies in their last Group fixture to register their first T20 World Cup victory in 22 attempts. The cricket fans lived every moment and various emotions with their favorite players marking this a spectacle for the Women's game which is surely going to touch bigger heights in the future. For ICC, this World Cup shows the possibility the T20 format can be used to grow the game by introducing newer nations to this beautiful sport.
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