13

cricket glory

All about the Women’s Cricket World Cup

What happens at the Cricket World Cup?

The first Women’s Cricket World Cup was in England

in 1973, when seven teams took part and England

won the trophy. England were also champions in

1993, 2009 and 2017. Their victory in 2017 included

a thrilling win over India in the final, with bowler

Anya Shrubsole taking six wickets. That’s a record in

both women’s and men’s Cricket World Cup finals.

Australia have won the event more times than any

other nation. They have won six, including three in

a row in 1978, 1982 and 1988. New Zealand are

the only other country to become Women’s Cricket

World Cup champions, lifting the trophy when they

hosted the competition in 2000. At this year’s

Women’s Cricket World Cup, each country plays each

other once in a league format. After all those games,

the top four teams in the league will go on to the

semi-finals. The winner in each of the two semi-finals

will reach the final on 3 April.

Matches to look out for

The action starts with New Zealand playing the West

Indies on 4 March. The following day, Australia take

on England. These two are big rivals who played

each other in the Ashes competition this winter and

Australia won. Pakistan against India, on 6 March, is

another huge match between two rival nations that

love cricket. With a total of 31 games over 31 days,

including the final at Hagley Oval in Christchurch,

the Women’s Cricket World Cup will be one of the

sporting highlights of the year. Matches are live on

Sky Sports and BBC radio, and highlights will be

shown on the BBC Sport website and app.

Hagley Oval stadium in

Christchurch, New Zealand.

Heather Knight with

fans after the 2017 final.

Lizelle Lee,

South Africa

Lee is the current

Women’s One Day

International Cricketer of

the Year after scoring 632

runs in 11 games in 2021.

If South Africa want to win

their first World Cup

then the batter, who

is ranked the best in

the world, will need

to be in top form.

Stafanie Taylor,

West Indies

Taylor is an all-rounder, which means

she bats and bowls. When she bowls

she uses spin, which is where the

ball is bowled slower but when

it bounces it can spin in a

surprising direction and

become hard to hit.

Sophie Devine,

New Zealand

The New Zealand captain

hopes to lead her team to

glory in their own country.

Devine is a powerful batter

who has the skills to quickly

score lots of runs. She has played

in more than 100 One Day International

games since her first in 2006.