The year that was - 20 interesting numbers from 2020

It was a strange year for cricket in general and women’s cricket in particular where they went from the high of having a record crowd to witness the T20 World Cup final at the MCG to having almost no cricket owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the pandemic hit the cricketing world, whatever little cricket was played was mostly played with no crowds under bio-secure environments with players having to restrict themselves to the bubbles that were created in line with the protocols.



As far as numbers are concerned, COVID-19 meant that different numbers dominated and mattered more in the greater scheme of things. But on the cricket field, numbers varied from 0 to 86,174 in a difficult year that saw many teams not taking the field post the T20 World Cup. As the players and teams look forward to new hopes that a new year can bring, let’s have quick run through some of the interesting numbers from the year 2020.



0 – Number of ODIs played by India, England, Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh Sri Lanka and Ireland.



2.29 – Christina Gough’s economy rate was the best among all the bowlers who bowled a minimum of 20 overs in T20Is in the year. She bowled 27 overs giving away only 62 runs, while also taking five wickets at an average of 12.4.



4/18 – Megan Schutt’s figures in the T20 World Cup Final against India on March 8. It was her best T20I figures and it was also the best by any bowler in T20 World Cup finals.



5 – Number of T20I centuries scored in the year. It was the year where Sophie Devine, Heather Knight, Lizelle Lee, Christina Gough and Janet Ronalds scored their maiden T20I centuries. Gough and Ronalds centuries were also instrumental in Germany’s 5-0 whitewashing of Austria.

🥈 Second @GoldenEagles_DE to score a T20I 💯

🥇 Fastest T20I 💯 for 🇩🇪

🏏 13 fours

Re-live @TinaGough18's maiden T20I ton against 🇦🇹#AUTvGER | (📹: @EuropeanCricket) pic.twitter.com/IbBP4Y1L2u



— Women's CricZone (@WomensCricZone) September 10, 2020

5/1 – The best T20I figures of the year belongs to Germany skipper Anuradha Doddaballapur. She took an incredible five-wicket haul giving away a solitary run against Austria - including four wickets in four balls. The other two bowlers to take T20I five-wicket hauls in the year were Germany’s Emma Bargna (5/9 v Austria) and Jess Jonassen (5/12 v India)







6 – Number of ODIs played in 2020, New Zealand were part of all the six matches, unfortunately lost all of them.



6/45 – Sune Luus’s figures against New Zealand during the third ODI in Hamilton on January 30 were the best for the year.



11.50 – Emma Bargna’s strike rate in T20Is for the year. She took 12 wickets from seven matches bowling 23 overs at an average of 6.50. Both her strike rate and bowling average is the best among all the bowlers with at least 20 overs under their belt. Next best was Poonam Yadav with a strike rate of 12 from five T20Is.



18 – The number of wicket-keeping dismissals Alyssa Healy had in the year 2020. She maintained a perfect 50-50 balance by taking nine catches, while also accounting for nine stumpings.



21 – The number of consecutive ODIs won by Australia, last of which came on October 7, to equal the record of their 2003 men’s side led by Ricky Ponting. 21 players played in these matches with Alyssa Healy, Rachael Haynes, Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner appearing in all 21 matches.



ALSO READ: Is Meg Lanning's Australia replicating the success of Ricky Ponting's men from 2000s?



21 is also the number T20I sixes hit by Sophie Devine in the year, the most by any player. Alyssa Healy, Heather Knight and Shafali Verma with 11 sixes each remain a distant second.



22 – The number of wickets taken by Megan Schutt in T20Is. She took 22 wickets at an average of 15.72 with an economy rate of 6.82.



24* – Ongoing streak of taking at least one wicket in consecutive T20Is starting from November 15, 2018 to March 8, 2020. The last time she went wicketless in a T20I was against Pakistan during the T20 World Cup 2018 in West Indies. The second-best streak belongs to Megan Schutt with 23 matches.







© Women's CricZone



64 – Beth Mooney hit the most number of T20I fours in 2020. The left-hander chose to keep it along the ground most of the time hitting only three over the fence during the year.



87.00 – Christina Gough’s batting average in T20Is for the year. She scored 348 runs from nine matches at an average of 87.00 and a strike rate of 127.47 with one century and three fifties.



99 – Lizelle Lee had the misfortune of getting out on the dreaded number when she was dismissed by Hayley Jensen for 99 in the first ODI against New Zealand on January 25.



101* – Meg Lanning’s match-winning hundred against New Zealand in the second match of the Rose Bowl series on October 5 was the only ODI century of the year. It was her 14^th ODI century, the most by any player with Suzie Bates currently on ten ODI hundreds. Her vice-captain Rachael Haynes missed out on a hundred in the third match of the series where she scored 96.



149.71 – Shafali Verma’s strike rate of 149.71 from the ten matches she played in 2020 is the best among all the players who faced a minimum of 100 deliveries.



222 – Number of runs scored by Rachael Haynes, most for any batter in ODIs in 2020. She scored those runs from the three matches at an average of 74.00 with a strike rate of 87.05 with a best of 96.



504 – Number of runs scored by Beth Mooney from 14 matches, most for any batter in T20Is in 2020. She also topped the batting charts in WBBL06 with 551 runs to her name. She had six fifty plus scores in it, also the most for any batter in the year.



86,174 – The number of fans turned up to watch the final between Australia and India at the MCG in the T20 World Cup. It was the biggest ever for a women’s cricket match. With the bio-bubbles and COVID-19 protocols it will be a very long time before we see a crowd that’s anywhere close to this number.