This year’s edition of the Women’s World Cup is set to get under way in New Zealand from March 4 with eight teams set to take part in a league format with all teams facing the other once at least.
- 31 matches held over 31 days will include the top nations battling for the trophy
- England are the defending champions with their win at home in 2017, where they beat India in the finals
Participants: Australia, England, India, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
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Favourites
Australia, led by Meg Lanning, are the favourites to win the title this time. The major reason for that is their overwhelming record in women’s ODIs. Since the end of their 2017 World Cup campaign after a loss to India in the semi-finals, Australia women have played 33 ODIs, winning 31 of them! They start the tournament with a face-off against England, their arch-rivals, who are also in contention for a title win.
England are the defending champions, but since their World Cup win at home in 2017, England women have lost 17 matches out of 41 they played, winning 23. Although England have won more than losing, the record isn’t as spectacular as Australia’s.
South Africa still stand some chances to succeed in the campaign with their superior ODI record since the last event. They have won 28 matches in this time frame, the second-most after Australia and have a win percentage of 65.1%.
Dark Horses
New Zealand, the hosts are the dark horses to win the title in their backyard. Noteworthy, in the warm-up game against Australia just before the tournament, they chased down 322 for the loss of just one wicket. In between the two World Cups, New Zealand’s record isn’t that promising with just 16 wins and 24 losses. They have some experienced campaigners in the group which should aid their chances.
Match predictions
New Zealand vs West Indies
New Zealand open their campaign with a game against West Indies. They have odds of 1.12 to win it given their good recent form.
Bangladesh vs South Africa
South Africa have odds of 1.04 to beat minnows Bangladesh in their first World Cup game and Bangladesh’s first ever appearance in the women’s World Cup.
Australia vs England
Australia take on England in the third game of the tournament, a game they have odds of 1.28 to win after their recent success against them in a bilateral ODI series.
India vs Pakistan
India have won all 10 ODIs against Pakistan in women’s ODIs. You can back India at 1.10
Players to keep an eye on…
Jhulan Goswami
The veteran Indian quick is 39 as she plays in this World Cup but continues to lead India’s promising pace attack. She was pivotal in India winning an ODI in Australia on their recent tour of the country. She also has 50 wickets after 31 ODIs since the 2017 ODI World Cup.
Meg Lanning
Aussie skipper Meg Lanning is a key figure in Australia’s build up to this tournament. A batting behemoth, Lanning has three hundreds and an average close to 50 in ODIs since the end of the last edition of the Women’s World Cup.
Sophie Devine
The New Zealand all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 150 against Australia in the warm-up game and is one of the key players for the hosts in this tournament. She has four hundreds since the last ODI World Cup. She also has 28 wickets in this time period.
History and stats
Interestingly, the Women’s ODI World Cup took place earlier than the men’s World Cup with the first edition happening in 1973. England went on to win that edition with Australia finishing runners up.
Australia have dominated the Women’s ODI World Cup over the years with six title wins in the 11 editions. They won the competition in 1978, 1982, 1988, 1997, 2005 and 2013.
England have won the competition four times including the first and the last editions. The only other winner apart from England and Australia are New Zealand, who won the event in 2000 after finishing as runners up in the two preceding seasons in 1993 and 1997.
