BIRMINGHAM, England: Australia beat India by nine runs to win the Commonwealth Games women’s T20 cricket gold medal on Sunday, but the real winner was the sport which provided compelling competition and bolstered its dossier to be included in the Olympics.
Part of the Commonwealth Games program for the first time, women’s cricket was one of the hottest tickets to Birmingham, especially for Sunday’s thrilling final between top-seeded Australia and India, mad about cricket.
“You just have to look at how many people came and watched every game even when England weren’t playing,” Australian Ashleigh Gardner said. “It was amazing to see people supporting women’s cricket.
“I guess the best thing about this whole event was growing the game globally.”
Chasing 162, India looked in control as they were 118-2 halfway through the 15th but suffered a collapse after losing three wickets in quick succession including key player Jemimah Rodrigues (33) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (65).
India’s lower batting order could not keep up with the pressure and were knocked out for 152 in the final, with Australians Gardner taking 3-16 and Megan Schutt 2-27.
It was another achievement for the dominant Australians, who won the last two T20 World Cups in 2018 and 2020 and the 50 plus World Cup earlier this year.
“I think today’s game was definitely worthy of a gold medal game,” said Jess Jonassen.
Earlier on Sunday, New Zealand claimed bronze after comfortably beating England by eight wickets, courtesy of an excellent bowling performance.
Hayley Jensen took 3-24, while Fran Jonas and Sophie Devine took two wickets apiece as England fell to 110-9 after 20 overs.
New Zealand captain Devine then scored an unbeaten 51 to conclude his pursuit of 111 from 12 overs.
“These Commonwealth Games have been an incredible experience,” said England captain Nat Sciver. “The crowds showed that people really like to come and watch.
“I wish cricket was in the Olympics.”
So would the International Cricket Council (ICC), which reportedly spent $3 million on lobbying efforts to get the sport on the schedule for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
MAJOR ADVERTISING
There couldn’t have been a better advertisement for what cricket can bring to a multi-sport event than the sensational display put up at Edgbaston Cricket Ground.
With over 160,000 tickets sold, cricket was one of the busiest sports at the Games and certainly one of the most fun as Birmingham, one of Britain’s most diverse cities, showed up in strength to support its teams.
The future of the Cricket Games is uncertain, although the Women’s T20 is almost certain to be included in the 2026 program when it takes place in Victoria, Australia.
Hamilton, the Canadian city that hosted the first Games in 1930 and wants to host them again in 2030 for the 100th anniversary, has already put cricket on its schedule.
Canadian bid leader Louis Frapporti told Reuters he had secured a commitment to build “a significant amount of cricket infrastructure”.
“We have entered into discussions involving the provincial government who are very interested in cricket infrastructure and programming in Ontario,” Frapporti said.