1978 Women's Cricket World Cup
The 1978 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international cricket tournament played in India from 1 to 13 January 1978. Hosted by India for the first time, it was the second edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, and came over four years after the inaugural 1973 World Cup in England.
| Dates | 1 – 13 January 1978 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | IWCC |
| Cricket format | ODI (50-over) |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin |
| Host(s) |  India |
| Champions | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  England |
| Participants | 4 |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Most runs | Margaret Jennings (127) |
| Most wickets | Sharyn Hill (7) |
It was originally proposed that South Africa host the World Cup, but this was abandoned to conform with the sporting boycott of the country. The Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) then made a successful bid, and served as the primary organiser, with the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC) providing only limited oversight.[1] Along with India, which was making its debut, five other teams were originally invited – Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the West Indies. The Netherlands and the West Indies, which had both not previously participated, were forced to withdraw due to financial issues.[2][3] The four teams that did compete (the lowest number in the tournament's history) played a round-robin tournament of three matches each, with Australia going undefeated to claim its first title. Australia's captain, Margaret Jennings, led the tournament in runs, while her teammate, Sharyn Hill, led the tournament in wickets.[4][5]
Squads
Information is only available for players who played at least one match at the tournament.
| Australia[6] |
England[7] |
India[8] |
 New Zealand[9] |
|---|---|---|---|
Venues
- Eden Gardens, Calcutta – one match
- Keenan Stadium, Jamshedpur – one match
- Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad – two matches
- Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, Patna – two matches
Warm-up matches
At least five warm-up matches were played against various local Indian teams, all but one of which came before the tournament.[10]
Group stage
Points table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | RR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3.264 |
| 2 | England |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.657 |
| 3 | New Zealand |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.777 |
| 4 | India |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.988 |
- Note: run rate was to be used as a tiebreaker in the case of teams finishing on an equal number of points, rather than net run rate (as is now common).[11]
Matches
Both Australia and England went into the last match of the tournament undefeated, which meant it functioned as a de facto final, akin to the Uruguay v Brazil match at the 1950 Football World Cup.[2] England's Megan Lear later recounted that the "most memorable part of [the] tournament was playing in front of crowds of 40,000 plus".[12]
Statistics
Most runs
The top five runscorers are included in this table, ranked by runs scored and then by batting average.
| Player | Team | Runs | Inns | Avg | Highest | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margaret Jennings | Australia | 127 | 3 | 63.50 | 57* | 0 | 1 |
| Barbara Bevege | New Zealand | 126 | 3 | 63.00 | 67* | 0 | 2 |
| Lynne Thomas | England | 109 | 3 | 54.50 | 47 | 0 | 0 |
| Sharon Tredrea | Australia | 87 | 2 | 43.50 | 56 | 0 | 1 |
| Wendy Hills | Australia | 66 | 3 | 22.00 | 64 | 0 | 1 |
Source: CricketArchive
Most wickets
The top five wicket takers are listed in this table, ranked by wickets taken and then by bowling average.
| Player | Team | Overs | Wkts | Ave | SR | Econ | BBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharyn Hill | Australia | 30.0 | 7 | 7.57 | 25.71 | 1.76 | 3/16 |
| Sharon Tredrea | Australia | 25.0 | 6 | 7.00 | 25.00 | 1.68 | 4/25 |
| Pat Carrick | New Zealand | 29.0 | 6 | 17.66 | 29.00 | 3.65 | 3/43 |
| Glynis Hullah | England | 21.1 | 5 | 6.80 | 25.40 | 1.60 | 2/2 |
| Peta Verco | Australia | 23.0 | 5 | 7.40 | 27.60 | 1.60 | 3/9 |
Source: CricketArchive
References
- Velija, Philippa (2015). Women's Cricket and Global Processes: The Emergence and Development of Women's Cricket as a Global Game. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 99. ISBN 9781137323538.
- Abhishek Mukherjee (15 January 2014). "Australia Women lift 1978 World Cup — the tournament which was almost called off" – CricketCountry. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- "Quick, quick Snow". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- Women's World Cup 1977/78 (ordered by runs) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- Women's World Cup 1977/78 (ordered by wickets) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- Batting and fielding for Australia women, Women's World Cup 1977/78 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- Batting and fielding for England women, Women's World Cup 1977/78 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- Batting and fielding for India women, Women's World Cup 1977/78 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- Batting and fielding for New Zealand women, Women's World Cup 1977/78 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- Women's World Cup 1977/78 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- Shell Bicentennial Women's World Cup 1988/89 table – CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- (5 March 2009). "'Our laundry laid out to dry on the rocks'" – ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
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