The 2020 Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

took place at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

. Hosts

won the tournament, beating

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by 85 runs, to win their fifth title. It was a standalone tournament, the men's tournament was initially held eight months ahead of the schedule, but would be postponed to 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Australia were the defending champions, and lost their opening match of the tournament against India. For the first time at the Women's T20 World Cup, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) announced the use of technology to monitor front-foot

no-ball In cricket, a no-ball (in the Laws and regulations: "No ball") is a type of illegal delivery to a batter (the other type being a wide). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal d ...

s for all matches during the tournament. The

third umpire The third umpire (or TV Umpire) is an off- field umpire used in some cricket matches, particularly international matches. Their role is to make the final decision in questions referred to them by the two on-field umpires or the players. The ...

assisted the umpire at the bowler's end in calling the front-foot no-balls, communicating this to the on-field umpires. India were the first team to qualify for the semi-finals, after recording three wins from their first three matches. India won their final group game, against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and finished top of Group A.

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

were the second team to qualify for the semi-finals, after they also won their first three group games.

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

were the third team to advance to the semi-finals, after beating the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

in their final group game. In the final match of Group A, hosts Australia beat

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

by four runs to take the fourth and final spot in the semi-finals. The final match in Group B, between South Africa and the

, was abandoned due to rain, meaning South Africa finished top of the group. Therefore, England were drawn against India in the first semi-final, and Australia faced South Africa in the second semi-final. The first semi-final was abandoned with no play due to rain, meaning India advanced to the final, after finishing top of Group A. It was the first time that India had progressed to the final of the Women's T20 World Cup. In the second semi-final, hosts Australia beat South Africa by five runs in a rain-affected match.

Teams and qualification

The tournament featured 10 teams. The eight top-ranked teams based on finishing positions from the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 qualified automatically. The remaining two qualification spots were determined through the 2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier, with Bangladesh and Thailand progressing. It was the first time that Thailand had qualified for a Women's T20 World Cup tournament. Following the conclusion of the qualification tournament, Bangladesh were placed in Group A and Thailand were placed in Group B.

Squads

Each team selected a squad of 15 players before the tournament, and were also able to replace any injured players.

Venues

In January 2018, the ICC announced that six venues in four cities would host matches. The semi-finals were hosted at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

, with the final being played at the

Match officials

On 12 February 2020, the ICC appointed the officials for the tournament. Along with the twelve umpires, Steve Bernard, Chris Broad and G. S. Lakshmi were also named as the match referees. * Lauren Agenbag * Gregory Brathwaite *

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

* Kim Cotton * Shaun George * Nitin Menon * Claire Polosak * Ahsan Raza * Sue Redfern * Langton Rusere * Alex Wharf * Jacqueline Williams

Group stage

The ICC released the fixture details on 29 January 2019 in Sydney.

Group A

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group B

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

----

Final

Statistics

Australia's Beth Mooney was the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 259 runs. Her teammate, Megan Schutt, was the leading wicket-taker, finishing with thirteen dismissals.

Team of the tournament

On 9 March 2020, ICC announced its team of the tournament picked by a selection panel featuring Ian Bishop, Anjum Chopra, Lisa Sthalekar, Raf Nicholson and Holly Colvin. * Alyssa Healy ( wk) * Beth Mooney * Nat Sciver * Heather Knight * Meg Lanning ( c) * Laura Wolvaardt * Jess Jonassen * Sophie Ecclestone * Anya Shrubsole * Megan Schutt * Poonam Yadav * Shafali Verma (12th woman)

Marketing

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

Australia, the United Nations Children's Fund was chosen as the official charity partner for the tournament. Proceeds were raised throughout the competition to support UNICEF Australia's Sports for Development program to empower girls and boys in Sri Lanka. Tickets for the event went on sale on 21 February 2019. All matches, including the final, had ticket prices for adults starting from $20. The ICC stated that more than half of all tickets available for sale for the tournament were priced at $20, with child tickets priced at $5. Star Sports were awarded the global broadcast rights for the tournament.

References

Notes

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{World championships in 2020 T20 World Cup T20 World Cup International women's cricket competitions in Australia Women's T20 World Cup Women's T20 World Cup Women's T20 World Cup