Women's Twenty20

This article is about the 20-over format of women's cricket. For the men's format, see Twenty20.

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Women's Twenty20 is the use of the Twenty20 match format in women's cricket. In a Twenty20 match, the two teams bat for a single innings each, of a maximum of 20 overs. The wider rules and playing conditions are usually the same for both the men's format and the women's format, with some small variations.

The first women's Twenty20 matches took place concurrently on 29 May 2004, as part of the 2004 Super Fours: Braves versus Super Strikers and Knight Riders versus V Team.[1] These matches were viewed as a warm-up for the first Women's Twenty20 International (and first T20I for either gender), that took place at Hove on 5 August 2004 between England and New Zealand.[2]

Most major cricket nations now have a women's Twenty20 cricket tournament as part of their domestic season. In 2007, the first Women's Interstate Twenty20 began in Australia and the State League Twenty20 began in New Zealand. With the beginning of the Women's Big Bash League in Australia in 2015–16 and the Women's Cricket Super League in England in 2016, domestic women's Twenty20 tournaments started becoming more professionalised.[3][4] In 2022, the first privately-run women's T20 competition was launched, the 2022 FairBreak Invitational T20.[5]

At international level, Twenty20 cricket has been an increasingly prevalent format for women. The first ICC Women's World Twenty20 was held in England in 2009, and was won by the hosts. The final of the 2020 edition in Australia became the most watched women's cricket event ever worldwide with 53 million views,[6] and with 86,174 watching in person at the MCG.[7][8] The most recent edition was held in South Africa in 2023, with Australia winning an unprecedented sixth title.[9]

  1. ^ "Women's Super Fours squads announced". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  2. ^ "International Twenty20 cricket on the cards". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Eight teams announced for Women's BBL". Cricket.com.au. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  4. ^ "ECB announces plan to launch Women's Cricket Super League next year". The Guardian. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  5. ^ "First-of-its-kind women's T20 event to bring together players from 35 countries". ESPNcricinfo. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  6. ^ "ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 is the most watched ICC women's T20 event in history". www.icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Women's T20 World Cup becomes most watched women's cricket event ever". SportsPro. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Jess Jonassen hand clinical Australia fifth T20 World Cup title". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  9. ^ PTI (26 February 2023). "ICC Women Twenty20 World Cup final | Australia wins record-extending sixth title". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 March 2023.