Former England women’s cricket team openers Charlotte Edwards and Janette Brittin hold the joint record for most hundreds in Women’s World Cup. The two batters have eight centuries - four each - between them in World Cup matches.

Edwards, who captained England for 10 years, made her international debut at the age of 16 in 1996. In her first-ever world cup appearance in 1997, Edwards scored the then-record ODI score of 173 not out in a World Cup match against Ireland. Interestingly, she played this innings only a day before her 18th birthday.

During her 20-year long career, Edwards featured in as many as five world cup campaigns while taking over the reins as captain in 2005. She showed her quality in the 2009 women’s World Cup, guiding the team to their third world title.

As far as her batting is concerned, it was during the 2013 campaign that she wreaked havoc, hitting two centuries while scoring 292 runs in six innings at an average of 58.40. 

Before Edwards, Janette Brittin had already set the milestone to beat. The former opener, who made her debut in 1979, featured in four world cup campaigns between 1982-1997, hitting at least a century in three of them. 

During this time, the former opener scored 1,299 runs in the process; the second-best return for runs in the tournament’s history after New Zealand’s Deborah Ann Hockley (1501), while also winning the world title in 1993.

After Edwards and Brittin, there are as many as three batters who have hit three hundreds in the women's World Cup. This includes England’s Clair Taylor, New Zealand’s Suzie Bates and Australia’s Karen Rolton. Taylor was, in fact, the Player of the Tournament in 2009 after she had scored 324 runs at 64.80.

Bates, on the other hand, put on her best show in the 2013 women’s World Cup as despite her team’s fourth-place finish, she was named Player of the Tournament after scoring 407 runs during the tournament.

Most hundreds in Women’s World Cup

Player Team Span Matches Runs 100s High score Average
Charlotte Edwards England Women 1997-2013 30 1231 4 173* 53.52
Janette Brittin England Women 1982-1997 36 1299 4 138* 43.30
Clair Taylor England Women 2000-2009 19 856 3 137* 61.14
Suzie Bates New Zealand Women 2009-2017 20 924 3 168 61.60
Karen Rolton Australia Women 1997-2009 28 974 3 154* 74.92

Featured photo: AFP / Indranil Mukherjee