Background When the
Benson & Hedges Cup ended in 2002, the
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sought another one-day competition to appeal to the younger generation in response to dwindling crowds and reduced sponsorship. The Board wanted to deliver fast-paced, exciting cricket accessible to fans who were put off by the longer versions of the game. Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of the ECB, proposed a 20-
over per
innings game to county chairmen in 2001, and they voted 11–7 in favour of adopting the new format. The first official
Twenty20 matches were played on 13 June 2003 between the English counties in the
T20 Blast's
inaugural edition. The first season of Twenty20 in England was a relative success, with
Surrey defeating
Warwickshire by 9 wickets in the final to claim the title. The first Twenty20 match held at
Lord's, on 15 July 2004 between
Middlesex and Surrey, attracted a crowd of 26,500, the largest attendance for any
county cricket game at the ground since 1953. On 17 February 2005,
Australia defeated
New Zealand in the first men's full international Twenty20 match, played at
Eden Park in
Auckland.
Initial years (2007–2012) The first tournament was in
2007 in South Africa where
India defeated
Pakistan in the
final. The
2009 tournament in England was won by Pakistan who defeated
Sri Lanka in the
final. The third World Twenty20 was held in the West Indies in May 2010, where
England defeated Australia by 7 wickets in the
final. The
2014 tournament in Bangladesh, was the first to feature 16 teams including all ten
full members and six
associate members who qualified through the 2013 Qualifier. Sri Lanka won the 2014 tournament after defeating India in the
final. but this was later dropped as the top member nations were busy with multiple bilateral tour matches that year. In November 2018, as part of a goal to heighten the profile of the World Twenty20 tournaments, the ICC announced that they would be rebranded as the "T20 World Cup" beginning in 2020. Initially, Australia was set to host both the men's and women's tournaments in 2020, however in July 2020, the ICC announced that the 2020 tournament had been postponed to 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and with Australian international travel restrictions not expected to be lifted until 2021. Later, the ICC chose to relocate the tournament to India, and award Australia the 2022 edition as compensation. Due to concerns over the
COVID-19 pandemic in India, the tournament was played at venues in the United Arab Emirates and Oman instead, although India remained as the formal host. The
2021 tournament was won by Australia, who won their maiden T20 World Cup title after defeating New Zealand in the
final. The
2022 tournament was won by England, who won their second T20 World Cup title after defeating Pakistan in the
final.
Expansion to 20 teams (2024–present) In June 2021, the ICC announced that the Men's T20 World Cup would expand to 20 teams beginning in 2024, divided into four groups of five each for the group stage. The
2024 tournament was hosted by the West Indies and the United States. It was the first time the US had hosted a major ICC event. In the
final, India defeated South Africa to win their second T20 World Cup title after 17 years. The
2026 tournament was hosted by India and Sri Lanka; where India defeated New Zealand in the
final to become the first team to win three titles and the first host country to win the title. == Hosts ==