Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 Most Watched Women’s T20 Event In History: ICC

The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Monday, announced that the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 was the most watched women’s event in the history of the sport. The tournament was played in Australia at the start of the year. Hosts and favourites Australia won the title by beating India in front of a record crowd at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The win was Australia’s fifth title win out of seven editions of the Women’s T20 World Cup. On the other hand, India had made it to the final for the first time in history but could not deliver in the final.

The final did not really live up to the expectations as Australia beat India in a lopsided contest. Alyssa Healy and her fellow opener Beth Mooney starred with the bat to help Australia put up a huge total of 184 for 4. In reply, India came up with a horrible batting display. Unbeaten throughout the tournament, India were all out for just 99.

“The event had already clocked up 1.1 billion video views via ICC digital channels, which is more than 20 times the video views delivered in the previous edition played in the West Indies in 2018 and 10 times the previous most successful women’s cricket event, which was the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2017. These figures make it the second most successful ICC event ever after the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 and that trend continued via broadcast with the final achieving record viewership worldwide,” stated the ICC in a release.

“In Australia, live viewing hours were 13.45m which is 473% higher than the 2018 tournament, driven by their hosting and an increase in coverage on the free-to-air channels. The final played between the hosts and India recorded an average audience of 1.2m viewers, making it the most watched women’s cricket match in Australian broadcast history.”

“India’s success in making it to the final boosted audience interest, with total viewership for the knockout stages recorded at 423% higher than 2018. India live viewing hours were 86.15m which is 152% higher than the 2018 tournament, driven by India’s success and the broadcast of select India matches by Star Sports, in five languages (English, Hindi, Tamil, Telegu and Kannada) in India,” added the release.

Earlier this year, the ICC had also announced that the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup became the most-watched ICC women’s event ever and the second most successful ICC event after the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019. The figure was more than 20 times the video views delivered in the previous edition played in the West Indies in 2018 and 10 times the previous most successful women’s cricket event, which was the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2017.

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