The current Australian women’s side is the greatest team in the history of cricket. Not just the greatest team of the modern era or the greatest ever women’s team—the greatest cricket team across time because no other team has reigned 86.08% win rate in ODI and 74.54% in T20 till now. Head over to Betway and utilize that information to profit as you like since the female cricket scene is completely dominated by Australia. However, after winning three straight world cups, they were defeated by New Zealand in the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup.
How New Zealand Wrote History With Their First Women’s T20 World Cup Victory
New Zealand has claimed their first-ever Women’s T20 World Cup title, the Kiwis took down South Africa in the final in Dubai. What made this victory even sweeter was how New Zealand incredibly came into the tournament off the back of a 10-match losing streak and now came out the other end as champions. Defending 5/158, the White Ferns held the lead to 9/126, sealing a 32-run victory. Now, they’re relishing their turnaround as World Champions, with celebrations kicking off in Auckland today.
This is the 2nd time South Africa’s women’s team played the final and lost but this team is not a joke, they knocked out Australian women here as well, but still lost to New Zealand in the 2024 final. The New Zealand team pulled off a brilliant performance in what was Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine’s final World Cup. Amelia Kerr was the key player and the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 16 wickets in 6 matches.
The Final Match vs South Africa
New Zealand’s performance in the finals was remarkable, there was no way South Africa could catch up to 158/5 runs as can be seen on the scorecard, Bates made 32 runs, followed by Amelia Kerr’s 43, and Halliday’s 38 sealed the deal.
Things were even better in the bowling department. Rosemary took three wickets, Carson bowled really well in this T20 World Cup, took big wickets, one wicket was taken by her, Fran Jones took one wicket for 28 runs in four overs, Lee Tahuhu took 21 runs for 7 economy, and Amelia Kerr is a sensation of New Zealand in women’s cricket right now, you can see whether it is batting or bowling, any department. Brooke Halliday saved the team with her batting, she scored runs at a strike rate of 135 and they also took one wicket in one over.
Is This The End of Australian Women’s Dominance in Female Cricket?
The Australian women’s team is nearly undefeatable if you look at history, they won the 2023 T20 World Cup, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the 2020 50-over World Cup, the 2020 T20 World Cup, or the 2018 T20 World Cup. That’s already five global tournaments in a row in four years and three months.
The last three of those wins came in the span of one year—five big trophies, which is as many as some teams have won in their entire history.
How has Australia Done in the Bilateral Series?
The last time they lost a bilateral T20I series was all the way back in 2017. Since then, they’ve played 14 T20I series, won 13 of them, and drawn just one. This includes 11 bilateral series and three triangular tournaments. The T20I defeat in 2017 came against England, but the multi-format Ashes of that Australian summer ended in a draw. In this period, Australia has won 57 T20Is, tied two, and lost only nine, giving them a win-loss ratio of 6.33.
Their average run rate has been 8.02, while their opponents’ run rate has been 6.51, a difference of 1.51 runs per over. In a T20 match, that’s a 30-run margin, which is huge.
Australia lost to India in the 2017 World Cup semi-final, and after that defeat, they made a vow. “We’ve changed the way we approach and play our cricket and are a lot more positive and willing to take a few more risks. I think that’s suited our game style,” said Meg Lanning. Three matches later, they lost to England in an ODI in Coffs Harbour, but after that, they went on a run of 22 ODI wins in a row, a world-record streak across formats and genders.
Since March 30, 2021, they haven’t lost a single T20I, nearly two years without defeat, except for one game that went into a super over. Since March 23, 2018, they have lost only six games in five years.
But that’s just one format. In ODIs, Australia last lost a series outside of ICC trophies back in January 2014. It’s been almost a decade since the Australian women lost a bilateral series. In fact, they’ve won 22 consecutive bilateral series. In this period, Australia has had five prime ministers since they last lost a bilateral ODI series.
They’ve won 75 ODIs and lost just nine, a win-loss ratio of 8.33. They’ve scored at a rate of 5.35 runs per over and conceded just 4.32, a difference of 1.03 runs per over. In a 50-over match, that amounts to an average margin of 51 runs.
Conclusion
Australia Women’s defeat in the semis by South Africa in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup for the first time in 15 years has opened new chapters for Women’s cricket. This made way for New Zealand’s finest-ever day on the cricket field, and Sophie Devine hopes there is more to come. “I’m really hopeful that tonight’s victory can inspire that next generation of not just young girls but young boys to pick up a cricket bat and a cricket ball,” she said. Their all-round performance in the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup has been a life-changing experience for the team.
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