Women's T20 World Cup 2012: Australia Beat England by 4 Runs in Colombo, Jess Duffin Scores 45 as Charlotte Edwards Wins Player of the Tournament

Australia won the ICC Women's World Twenty20 2012 on 7 October 2012 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, beating England by 4 runs in one of the closest Women's T20 World Cup finals. Australia scored 142/4 in 20 overs; England were restricted to 138/9, falling 4 runs short on the final ball. Jess Duffin won Player of the Match with 45 off 34 balls — the innings that gave Australia's total its competitive foundation. Charlotte Edwards (England) won Player of the Tournament from the losing finalist. Jodie Fields captained Australia to their second Women's T20 World Cup title — following their first in 2010 in Barbados.

A 4-Run Final: One of the Closest Women's T20 World Cup Finals

The Women's T20 World Cup 2012 final's 4-run margin — England needing 143 to win off 20 overs, reaching 138/9 — was one of the closest finishes in Women's T20 World Cup final history. England, batting second at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo's subcontinent conditions, came within a single cluster of boundaries of completing the chase: their 138/9 meant that one additional over of maintained batting would have reached the target. Australia's bowlers maintained enough pressure in the final stages to take the 7th, 8th, and 9th wickets and restrict England's tail from the 8-ball bursts that the 100-ball format later demonstrated lower-order batters could contribute. The 4-run margin gave the 2012 final its tension — a final ball conclusion that Australia won by defending rather than their batting lineup's dominance.

Charlotte Edwards: Player of the Tournament from the Losing Captain

Charlotte Edwards (England) winning the Women's World T20 2012 Player of the Tournament — from the team that lost the final by 4 runs — combined two unusual circumstances: the Player of the Tournament award going to the losing finalist, and going to the captain of that side. Edwards, Kent's right-handed batter and England's long-serving captain, had been the dominant batting performer across the 2012 competition in Sri Lanka — her 172 runs at 43.00 average making her the competition's most consistent top-order scorer. Her tournament-long quality was recognised with the Player of the Tournament award despite England falling 4 runs short on the final day. The 2012 edition was the third Women's World T20; Australia (2010, 2012) and England (2009) had each won titles in the competition's first three editions.

Women's T20 World Cup 2012 in Context

The ICC Women's World Twenty20 2012 was the third edition of the competition, held in Sri Lanka in October. Australia's title defence from their 2010 Barbados win produced a second successive championship — with the 4-run margin reflecting how closely England pressed them. The same competition saw England's Charlotte Edwards win the Player of the Tournament from the losing finalist, a pattern that across the competition's history has consistently appeared: the tournament's most productive individual batter or bowler frequently playing for a team that reaches but loses the final. Australia's Jess Duffin, whose 45 off 34 was the innings that gave the 142/4 total its competitive edge, would become one of the Australian women's team's most reliable T20 middle-order contributors across the following years.