Women’s T20 World Cup winners: Australian cricket team’s dominance unmatched, New Zealand reigning champions - full list

T20 has helped women’s cricket grow by leaps and bounds over the last few years. Despite this expansion, the dominance of Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup remains unchallenged.

First played in 2009, nine editions of the women's T20 World Cup have been held so far. Australia emerged as T20 World Cup champions on six occasions while New Zealand, England and the West Indies complete the list of women's T20 World Cup winners.

The Indian women’s cricket team, New Zealand and South Africa have stood as runners-up in different editions.

In what was an eight-team inaugural edition in 2009, hosts England edged out New Zealand to clinch the first-ever ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in London. Both cricket teams emerged unbeaten from the group stages and beat Australia en route to the final.

New Zealand produced exceptional batting performances throughout the inaugural edition but were bundled out for just 85 in the final. England chased down the total with six wickets and three overs to spare. England’s Claire Taylor was named the player of the tournament.

The Women’s T20 World Cup, mostly held biennially, has been dominated by Australia since then. The team from Down Under has made all seven finals, winning six and losing just once in 2016 against the West Indies.

New Zealand were also the team to beat in the 2010 edition held in the West Indies. The Kiwis emerged unbeaten from the group stage with convincing wins and beat the hosts by 56 runs in the semi-finals. Ultimately, Australia won the title due to their ability to handle pressure better. They registered a super over win against England in the group stages, beat India by four runs in the semi-final and won the final by three runs after putting up just 106 on the scoreboard. 

Australia won the 2012 edition in Sri Lanka with a narrow four-run victory over rivals England in the final. After putting up a challenging 142/4 on board, a collective bowling effort led by Jess Jonassen’s three-wicket haul helped Australia become the first team in the history of women’s T20 to defend its World Cup title.

With the T20 gaining popularity and the quality of the teams on the rise, the ICC made the Women’s T20 World Cup a 10-team affair 2014 edition onwards. 

South Africa, India and the West Indies started to challenge the likes of New Zealand, England and Australia. However, Australia became the first country to win a hat-trick of T20 World Cup titles across men’s and women’s events with a six-wicket victory over England in the 2014 final in Mirpur.

West Indies broke Australia’s title-winning streak in 2016. Batting first once again, the defending champions posted a competitive 148/5 in the final at Eden Gardens. However, West Indian opener Hayley Matthews got the hosts off to a flyer.

Matthews struck 66 off 45 and put on 120 for the opening wicket alongside captain Stafanie Taylor. The partnership helped West Indies win the match by eight wickets. It was the first ICC trophy for the senior West Indies women’s cricket team.

Australia came back to winning ways by lifting the trophy back in the 2018 edition hosted by the West Indies. Similar to the 2014 edition in Bangladesh, Australia bundled out England for 105 and won the match by eight wickets in 15.1 overs. Australian great Alyssa Healy finished the tournament as the leading run-getter and was also named as the player of the tournament.

The Indian women’s cricket team, with the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur in its ranks, made it to their maiden final after the semi-final against England was washed out in the 2020 edition held in Australia. 

India had beaten Australia in the group stages and had topped the group. However, the final was played in front of a boisterous crowd at the MCG and Australia strolled to their fifth World Cup title with an 85-run victory over India.

The 2023 edition saw hosts South Africa and Australia make the final with narrow victories in the semi-finals over England and India, respectively. However, the final result remained the same with Australia completing their second hat-trick of titles with a 19-run victory.

South African hearts were broken yet again in the Women's T20 World Cup 2024 played in the UAE. New Zealand emerged as the fourth Women's T20 World Champions in history after beating South Africa by 32 runs in the final. Australia had exited the tournament in the semi-finals.

Women’s T20 World Cup winners list