Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know About Women’s Cricket

There have been several sports-oriented women-centric movies made in the past – several of which are available on ZEE5. The release of women’s cricket-based drama – Kanaa got us excited. We list out some interesting facts about women’s cricket

1. The first women’s cricket match – a test match, was between England & Australia in Brisbane.
2. The first women’s World Cup was played in 1973 – two years before the men’s world cup in 1975. The teams were England, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago & International XI. England won the first-ever women’s world cup.
3. India made its women’s cricket Test debut in 1976 against West Indies.
4. India has played 263 ODI’s till date.
5. While India has made it to the World Cup finals on two occasions earlier, it is yet to win the World Cup. It lost to Australia in 2005 & to England in 2017.
6. Mithali Raj from India is one of the greatest women cricketers to grace the game. She is women’s cricket’s answer to Sachin Tendulkar. She played 109 matches between 2004 to 2013 – which is a record in women’s cricket. She has several other records under her name. She has now played in 192 ODI’s, going past Charlotte Edwards record of 191 appearances.
7. Smrithi Mandhana is the rising star of women’s cricket. She is the top-ranked player ICC’s ODI rankings. Her batting style is reminiscent of Sourav Ganguly’s batting.
8. The current Indian team is led by Mithali Raj in ODI’s & Harmanpreet Kaur in T20I. Harmanpreet Kaur is likely to rejoin Lancashire Thunder for 2019 Women’s Super League. Ex-India player .V Raman is the coach.
9. The Women’s Cricket Super League is a semi-professional women’s Twenty20 cricket competition in England & Wales. It is managed by England Cricket Board(ECB).
10. India’s version of Women’s Cricket Super League held its second season from 6th to 11th May 2019. It had three teams – IPL Supernova, IPL Trailblazers & IPL Velocity. The teams were led by Harmanpreet Kaur, Smrithi Mandhana & Mithali Raj. The final was between IPL Velocity & IPL Supernova. Supernovas ended up winning the championship by 4 wickets. Harmanpreet Kaur – the captain of the Supernovas was adjudged the player of the match. Jemimah Rodrigues of the Supernovas was named as the player of the tournament.
11.India currently ranks 2nd in ODI’s & 5th in T20I’s.
12. The movie – Kanaa, which released on ZEE5 beautifully captures the struggles & the journey of India’s women cricketers. It must watch the movie for all cricket fans.
13. Women’s cricket in India has come a long way. Women cricketers had to earlier travel unreserved on trains, or even on bullock carts. Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami’s rise has made it easier for future generations.
14. Harmanpreet Kaur’s knock of 171 not out off 115 balls against defending champions Australia in 2017, captured the nation’s imagination. It also helped India storm into the finals.
15. The next women’s cricket World Cup will be held from Jan 30th – Feb 20th, 2021. It will be the 12th edition of the Women’s World Cup. It will be held in New Zealand.

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