ICC Women’s T20 World Cup winners list: Australia most successful team, England inaugural champions

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup has been pivotal in developing women’s T20 cricket at the international level. Since its inception in 2009, the tournament has witnessed some eye-catching matches, mesmerising performances and game-defining moments.

It started as an eight-team tournament in 2009, but has now evolved into a 10-team affair. The qualification is determined by the team’s WT20I rankings and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup qualifier.

England won the first edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2009. Since then, it has mostly been Australian dominance in the following six editions. The Australian women’s cricket team has won six Women’s T20 World Cups, a record in this tournament. They also finished as runners-up in 2016 when West Indies won the trophy.

India's best performance at the Women's T20 World Cup came in 2020 when they finished runner-up after losing the final to Australia.

England, with three runner-up finishes, has suffered the most Women's T20 World Cup heartbreaks having lost the final thrice, while New Zealand finds themselves next in this unenviable position for most runner-up finishes having lost the summit clash on two occasions.

Let us go through the full list of winners of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

Women’s T20 World Cup winners list

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2009 winner - England

England, the hosts of the tournament's inaugural edition, were also crowned the champions after beating New Zealand by six wickets in the final at Lord’s. The English cricket team’s Claire Taylor was named Player of the Tournament for her batting exploits.

England Women won all their five matches in the 2009 edition, including the league stage games, a semi-final against Australia and the grand finale.

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2010 winner - Australia

Australia first etched their name on the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup trophy in the 2010 edition in the Caribbean. After beating England, South Africa and West Indies in the group stage, the Aussies got past the Indian hurdle in the semi-final with ease.

However, the final against New Zealand was a low-scoring thriller. While Australia scored only 106/8, all-rounder Ellyse Perry’s 3/18 in the run chase restricted the Kiwis to three runs short of the total. 

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2012 winner - Australia

Yet another nerve-wracking final sealed back-to-back titles for Australia in Colombo. Despite a defeat to the English side in the group stage, the Aussies stormed into the semis, courtesy of handsome wins against India and Pakistan. 

Australia, who were dominant against the West Indies in the semi-final, beat England by four runs in the final.

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2014 winner - Australia

HAT-TRICK! Meg Lanning and Co. won their third consecutive ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title in 2014.

The tournament introduced the 10-team format for the first time. Australia stuttered in their title defence, losing to Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in their first group-stage game. However, three wins on the spin against South Africa, Ireland and Pakistan were enough to grant the Aussies a semi-final spot.

Australia, once again, beat West Indies in the semi-final at Mirpur by eight runs. The final was a one-sided affair, with Australia reducing England to 105/8 before chasing down the target with 29 balls to spare. 

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2016 winner - West Indies

West Indies stopped the Australian juggernaut in the 2016 edition of the tournament in India, beating the three-time defending champions in the final. 

The Aussies set up a competitive score of 148/5 at Kolkata. However, thanks to Hayley Matthews and captain Stafanie Taylor’s steady knocks, the West Indies women’s cricket team chased the score in the final over.

West Indies were only beaten by England in the group stage. The Caribbean side notched wins against Pakistan, Bangladesh and India in the remainder of the group stage before defeating New Zealand in the semis en route to the T20 crown.

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2018 winner - Australia

The Australian cricket team won back their “Women’s T20 World Cup Champions” tag in the 2018 edition in the Caribbean. In what looked like a carbon copy of the 2014 final, the Meg Lanning-led side bowled out England for 105 in the grand finale before comfortably chasing down the score with almost five overs to spare.

Wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy finished as the top run-scorer in 2018, setting her up for the Player of the Tournament award.

Australia won five of their six matches in the Caribbean, with their only defeat coming against India in their final group-stage match. 

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 winner - Australia

The then four-time-winners Australia hosted the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup for the first time in 2020. The Aussies bounced back after a defeat in their group-stage opener against India by beating Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Meg Lanning and Co. beat South Africa by five runs (D/L method) in the semi-final at Sydney, taking them through to the final against India. In front of a packed house at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), boasting 86,174 spectators during the final, Australia were utterly dominant with both bat and ball, beating the Indian team by 85 runs. It was the biggest margin of victory by runs in a Women’s T20 World Cup final.

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 winner - Australia

In the eighth edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, Australia outplayed the hosts in the final to seal an hat-trick of titles in this format.

Ashleigh Gardner finished as the Player of the Tournament in 2023. She scored 110 runs and picked up 10 wickets for the Meg Lanning-led side.

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 winner - New Zealand

New Zealand clinched their maiden Women's T20 World Cup title after they defeated South Africa by 32 runs in the 2024 final at the  Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

All-rounder Amelia Kerr of New Zealand was adjudged the Player of the Tournament after she scored 135 runs and also bagged 15 wickets in just six matches to guide the White Ferns to the coveted title.

Photo credits: Imago