By Sidhanta Patnaik
The ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2016 was a holistic tournament in every sense, as teams were tested in conditions as varied as Dharamsala, New Delhi, Mohali, Mumbai, Nagpur, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. However, certain things could have definitely been planned much better. New Zealand, for example, travelled for 12 hours to reach Nagpur from Mohali once, and the slow surfaces did not contribute in making women’s cricket a marketable product. While the argument that the matches were being played at the fag end of the Indian season was true, special care should have been taken to ensure that the pitches of all of the 13 televised matches – a first – offered more value to the batters. There was also an opportunity lost with some of the marquee games, like the one between England and West Indies that was decided off the last ball, not televised.
But even taking all areas of possible improvement into account, the tournament was a standalone success in many ways. Considering that the next Women’s World T20 will not run alongside the men’s event, it was important for this edition to pass the independent test. It largely did that through a new winner, crowds in big games, and a few thrilling contests which ensured that at least the semifinalists from one group remained undecided till the last league game.
In an ideal scenario, the International Cricket Council would have wanted India to qualify for the final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday (April 3), as it would have guaranteed a good turnout and been an excellent advertisement for the sport. So much had been spoken about Mithali Raj’s India after they started the year with a historic Twenty20 International series win in Australia that there was almost a sense of inevitability about their place in the knockouts. But an inability to seize key moments and a lack of fitness in three close defeats in the league stages combined with the pressure of playing in front of big crowds for the first time prevented the hosts from having a fairytale ride.
It fell upon West Indies to prove the pre-tournament prediction of Clare Connor, the ICC Women’s committee chairman and former England captain, that the fifth edition of the competition would throw up a “surprise winner” correct. Their maiden title win, by eight wickets over the treble defending champions, ended Australia’s three-edition hegemony.
West Indies’ planning started soon after their third consecutive semifinal loss in 2014 in Bangladesh. Immediately after that defeat to Australia, Merissa Aguilleira, the captain then, had spoken about the need to “have faith to go to the next level.” While Aguilleira, Stafanie Taylor, who took over the captaincy late last year in order to “bring new energy” according to Clive Lloyd, the chairman of selectors, Anisa Mohammed and Deandra Dottin formed the base with their experience, Afy Fletcher and Britney Cooper were recalled after more than six years, and Hayley Matthews and Shamilia Connell were chosen for the first time.
Matthews’s debut at the age of 16 in September 2014 sent out a loud message that the team management was willing to back youngsters for long-term solutions. It also helped that Matthews and a few others mingled with the best players from other countries at the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League, and incorporated the lessons learnt there into their games.
Matthews and Cooper weren’t consistent in the first half of the tournament, but they fed off the meaningful contributions from seniors, especially Taylor and Dottin. Taylor carried the burden of the team’s batting singlehandedly during the league stages, while Dottin bowled the 20th over with precision in each game. She defended nine runs against India in a must-win first round match after playing a crucial knock, and gave away just one in the final against Australia, shifting the momentum in the team’s favour. Even the captaincy of Taylor was quite sharp, as she used her spinners cannily and stressed on strike-rotation in order to make up for the lack of boundaries.
Cooper rose to make a 48-ball 61 against New Zealand in the semifinal to set up a six-run win, and Matthews gave a push to her growing reputation with an attractive 45-ball 66 against Australia – the highest individual score by a batter across five finals. That she had Taylor for company during an opening stand of 120 made the chase of 149 a relatively easy affair.
While Matthews’s knock earned her rave reviews, what excited the batter was the opportunity to play in front of a healthy crowd throughout the tournament. “I haven’t played in a World Cup before. Crowds were good. It was good to see so much support playing before the men’s (final) with the crowd coming in towards the end,” said Matthews. “Hoping that women’s cricket improves as the years go by and we see a lot more of it.”
West Indies winning the title was another example of the closing gaps between rest of the teams and Australia in women’s cricket, and Meg Lanning, the Southern Stars skipper, felt it was a good thing for the game. “Each tournament is building on the last one, which is great. We have seen the build up to the World Twenty20 with the WBBL, and the Super League (being announced) in England. There’s lots happening with women’s cricket. It’s building all the time. The skill levels are really increasing as well,” Lanning said. “Everyone’s sort of catching up and going past us, and we need to keep improving to make sure we stay on top. The West Indies are an example of that. Throughout the whole tournament, the standard has been really good. There’s no easy games in women’s cricket any more. If you are not 100 percent, you are not going to win. We have found that out in this tournament.”
The victorious campaign of the West Indies Women has a bigger connotation in Caribbean cricket. Their title, alongside the men’s triumph and victory in the Under-19 World Cup a couple of months earlier, gives a newfound voice to the players in their fight with the West Indies Cricket Board for their rights. How that narrative pans out after all these success remains to be seen, but there were many other wonderful tales during the tournament from other teams as well.
Sana Mir’s Pakistan won many hearts by the manner in which their spinners scripted famous back-to-back wins against India and Bangladesh, sending out a message beyond the cricket field through social media, South Africa had Sunne Luus, the only bowler to take five wickets in an innings, Ireland symbolised inclusivity, featuring some of the youngest and the oldest players in the tournament, Chamari Atapattu’s Sri Lanka sparkled in patches even after losing their designated skipper to a hamstring injury, Jahanara Alam gave a good name to the Bangladesh team, and even though England fumbled their way to the semifinals, Charlotte Edwards once again belied her age by becoming the first batter to cross the 200-run mark in the competition. But, no team bossed the league stages like New Zealand, who stumbled in the knockouts yet again. While Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine enhanced their reputation as entertainers, young Leigh Kasperek’s effective offspin put her on the top of the bowling charts and made her a player to watch out for in the future.
“We do have girls who are interested, it’s just that we don’t have anyone to push them and say okay these girls are interested so we need to get them out to play,” said Taylor, when asked about ways to popularise the sport among girls. The 2016 Women’s World T20 has definitely done its bit and the results will be visible in a few years from now. But, the challenge now is to sustain the momentum, push the bar even further and secure more converts.
Sidhanta Patnaik is Senior Staff Writer at Wisden India. He tweets @sidhpat.
First published in Wisden India.