2005 Women's Cricket World Cup
| Dates | 22 March – 10 April |
|---|---|
| Cricket format | Women's ODI |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and Knockout |
| Host(s) |
 South Africa |
| Champions |
 Australia (5th title) |
| Participants | 8 |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Player of the series | Karen Rolton (AUS) |
| Most runs | Charlotte Edwards (ENG) 280 |
| Most wickets | Neetu David (IND) 20 |
The 8th IWCC Women's Cricket World Cup was held in South Africa from 22 March to 10 April 2005.
Teams from New Zealand, Australia, England, India, Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies played each other once in a round robin format to determine the semi finalists.
3 centuries were scored during the tournament. 136 by Claire Taylor for England v Sri Lanka in Pretoria, 103 by Lisa Keightley for Australia v South Africa at the LC de Villiers Oval in Pretoria and 107* by Karen Rolton for Australia v India in the final at Centurion Park.
The highest score in the tournament was the 284 for 4 England compiled against Sri Lanka while Sri Lanka were bowled out for 57 by Australia and 58 by New Zealand.
Two women took five wicket hauls in the competition, remarkably both in the same game. Pace bowler Louise Milliken took 5 for 25 for New Zealand against India at the Tshwane University of Technology Oval in Pretoria and although slow left armer Neetu David hit back with 5 for 32 for the Indians, New Zealand won the group game by 16 runs.
Australia defeated England by 5 wickets and India beat New Zealand by 40 runs in the semi finals.
Australia won the tournament, for the 5th time, beating India by 98 runs in the final. The Australians scored 215 for 4 before bowling India out for 117 in 46 overs.
Squads
Group stage
| Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 35 |
 India | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 30 |
 New Zealand | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 29 |
 England | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 26 |
 West Indies | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 19 |
 Sri Lanka | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| South Africa | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
 Ireland | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
26 March 2005 (scorecard) |
| v |
West Indies 151 (48.3 overs) | |
| Juliana Nero 40 (64) Lisa Sthakelar 2/16 (4.0) |
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Semifinals
Final
Statistics
Most runs
The top five run-scorers are included in this table, ranked by runs scored, then by batting average, then alphabetically by surname.
| Player | Team | Runs | Inns | Avg | Highest | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Edwards | England | 280 | 6 | 46.66 | 99 | 0 | 3 |
| Claire Taylor | England | 265 | 6 | 53.00 | 136 | 1 | 1 |
| Karen Rolton | Australia | 246 | 5 | 61.50 | 107* | 1 | 1 |
| Cri-zelda Brits | South Africa | 206 | 6 | 34.33 | 72 | 0 | 1 |
| Mithali Raj | India | 199 | 7 | 49.75 | 91* | 0 | 2 |
Source: ESPNcricinfo
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neetu David | India | 65.4 | 20 | 8.35 | 19.7 | 2.54 | 5/32 |
| Amita Sharma | India | 65.3 | 14 | 14.85 | 28.0 | 3.17 | 3/12 |
| Jhulan Goswami | India | 64.1 | 13 | 13.53 | 29.6 | 2.74 | 4/16 |
| Shelley Nitschke | Australia | 44.0 | 11 | 8.27 | 24.0 | 2.06 | 3/5 |
| Louise Milliken | New Zealand | 44.0 | 11 | 13.72 | 24.0 | 3.43 | 5/25 |
Source: ESPNcricinfo