In 2025, the Women's 50-over game took centre stage at the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Higher totals, epic chases and a new level of batting consistency marked a defining moment for Women's ODI cricket - a format long viewed as being in transition, now fully arrived. At the heart of this transformation was India, whose historic World Cup triumph capped a year that redefined the 50-over game.

A landmark year for Women's ODI cricket

Across the calendar year, Women's ODIs saw unprecedented scoring rates, big chases, and a shift in tactical thinking, redefining what teams now consider par scores and safe totals. More than 90 ODIs were played globally between 16 teams, the most in a single year. But the significance lay in how they were played. 2025 was the first year in which the scoring rate was greater than five runs per over, rising to 5.08 per six balls. The average runs per wicket stood at 28.85, again the highest in a year. First-innings totals regularly crossed 250. There were 25 300-plus totals, which is the most registered in a calendar year, well clear of 10 in 2024.

In 94 matches, there were 48 individual centuries, the most in a single year, 19 more than there were in 2024. The aggressive intent from batters fuelled a record 350 sixes across this calendar year, more than double the previous record set in 2022. India led the scoring rate with 6.25 runs per six balls, closely followed by Australia (6.11). South Africa's batters scored 13 centuries, followed by India with 11 centuries in 2025.

Numbers across the last five years of the Women's ODI cricket

A key shift in 2025 was tactical: chasing became the new normal and a preferred option, guided by deeper batting and stronger power-hitting. Eight successful target chases over 250 were registered, including two historic chases over 300-plus in the World Cup, while defending totals under 280 grew increasingly unsafe. Captains took the risk, trusting their line-ups to handle pressure and surge late, resulting in a faster-paced format that retained its tactical depth.

India's dominance sets the tone

India' set the pace in women's cricket in 2025, consistently dictating terms rather than reacting. Their intent was underlined early with a record-breaking 435/5 against Ireland Women at Rajkot in January, which is the highest ODI total by India and among the top five in women's cricket history. India's batting depth, especially beyond the top order, kept constant pressure on teams, making 300-plus scores normal rather than ambitious and forcing opponents to change their tactics. India scored nine 300-plus totals in 2025, which is the most by any team in an ODI calendar year.

India's fighting spirit shone in the ODI series before the World Cup, nearly chasing 413 against the World champion Australia. Smriti Mandhana smashed the fastest Indian ODI century - male or female - in just 50 balls, and India recorded their first win over the serial champions since the 2017 World Cup semi-final.

India Women won 15 out of 23 ODIs this year, their win percentage of 68.2 was the second best after Australia's (84.61). India's average run per wicket was 43.09 - the best by any team in a calendar year where they played a minimum of 20 ODI matches. Indian also scored 41 50-plus scores this year - the most by a team this year, followed by South Africa (34). They hit 84 sixes this year - the second most by any team in a year after South Africa's 87 - also in this year. India's lower-order batters (Nos. 6-8) delivered match-changing innings, proving women's ODIs no longer rely solely on top-order heft.

Smriti Mandhana's record-breaking year

No one defined 2025 like Smriti Mandhana. Her year was defined by both volume and pace. Mandhana combined control with aggression, setting the powerplay tone and giving India a dominant, reliable foundation in an era where early momentum increasingly dictated outcomes.

In one of the finest years in women's ODI history, she became the first woman to score over 1000 runs in a calendar year, finishing with 1362 in 23 ODI innings, averaging 61.9 at a blistering strike rate of 109.92, with five centuries and five fifties. Her five hundreds this year in 2025 are the joint-most by a woman batter in an ODI calendar year, along with Tazmin Brits and Laura Wolvaardt - who also scored five centuries each in 2025.

Mandhana also recorded 10 50-plus scores this year - the joint most in an ODI calendar year with Mithali Raj (in 2017). Mandhana hit 32 sixes in 2025 and set a new record for most sixes in a calendar year in women's ODIs, surpassing Lizelle Lee's 28 in 2017. During the World Cup, she became the fastest woman to reach 5000 ODI runs.

Mandhana's 1362 runs in 2025 made her the first woman to breach the 1000-run mark in ODI cricket in a calendar year. During the World Cup, she also went past Belinda Clark's long-standing record of 970 runs from 1997. Close behind was Laura Wolvaardt, who amassed 1174 runs at a remarkable average of 61.78 to become only the second woman, after Mandhana, to cross 1000 ODI runs in a year. Wolvaardt's form was emphatic: her last five ODI innings read 169, 101, 31, 124 and 100*.

Most runs in a calendar year in Women's ODIs

In June, Mandhana completed a set of centuries by scoring a T20I hundred, hitting 112 off 62 balls against England in Nottingham, a year after she got a hundred in a Test. She joined Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight, Beth Mooney, and Laura Wolvaardt as the only batters to score centuries across all three formats of the women's game.

Bowling in a batter's world

In a batter-dominated year, bowlers adapted very well, especially the spinners, who took about 58 percent of wickets in the ODIs during the year. They used variations and attacking fields to control the middle overs, as taking wickets became more important than just keeping runs down, even though economy rates increased.

India's Deepti Sharma emerged as the most effective wicket-taker of the World Cup year, claiming 39 wickets at an average of 27.1 and conceding at just 5.12 in ODIs this year. She was the key factor in India's title triumph, where she was effective with her off-spin while breaking key partnerships in high-scoring games.

India took 163 wickets in 23 matches in this ODI calendar year, in which the spin bowlers took 108 wickets (66.25 percent). Their 163 wickets are the second-most by any team in a calendar year in ODI cricket after South Africa's 166 wickets in 23 matches in the 2017 season. Deepti's 39 wickets this year in ODIs are the most by a bowler in any Women's ODI calendar year. South Africa's Nonkululeko Mlaba was the second-highest wicket taker this year in ODIs. She took 35 wickets in 19 games at an average of 20.54 and conceded only at 4.76 per over.

Most wickets in a calendar year in Women's ODIs

ICC Women's World Cup 2025: India's crowning moment

This was no trophy won by chance. The foundation had been laid two to three years ago. Having already gone through heartbreak in two finals - 2005 and 2017 - India entered the 2025 edition with a different mindset. India's campaign shone in high-pressure chases, highlighted by a semi-final 339-run heist against Australia, which is the highest successful chase in women's ODI history and symbolizes a new era where big totals inspired challenge, not fear. And in the final, they defeated South Africa by 52 runs to claim their maiden World Cup title and became the fourth nation to win the women's ODI World Cup, alongside Australia, England, and New Zealand.

A run of poor results began against South Africa and continued against champions Australia and England, but despite the setbacks, the team held firm to belief, trusting a turnaround would come. The turnaround arrived in style. India beat New Zealand by 53 runs (DLS method) to reach the semi-finals, then stunned seven-time champions Australia, driven by Jemimah Rodrigues' superb century.

Deepti, the player of the tournament, became the first woman to score 200+ runs and take 20+ wickets in a Women's ODI tournament, and the first ever to score a fifty and take five wickets in a World Cup knockout. At 21 years 279 days, Shafali Verma became the youngest Player of the Match in an ODI World Cup semi-final or final, while 36-year-old Harmanpreet Kaur became the oldest captain to win the Women's World Cup. She also owned the record for most runs (331) in World Cup knockouts. Though Laura Wolvaardt led with 571 runs and recorded the tournament's highest score of 169 against England, India's collective batting resolve defined the World Cup.

A season that changed expectations

The impact of 2025 went beyond records: India's World Cup win became a defining domestic moment, while farewells like that of Sophie Devine, who bowed out after finishing with a rare ODI double of 4000-plus runs and 100-plus wickets, also highlighted a generational shift. By year's end, the message was clear: 2025 had the laid marker for change in the game.