Top 5 Most Runs in One Over in Women’s T20Is
A 15-year-old debutant bowler conceded 52 runs in a single over, and only 35 of them actually came off the bat. That single over, bowled during Argentina’s 427-run demolition of Chile in 2023, still stands as the most runs scored in one over in Women’s T20I history, according to Guinness World Records. Here are the top 5 record holders for the most runs in one over in Women’s T20Is, and the story behind each one.
What Counts as Most Runs in an Over?
Before ranking these overs, it helps to separate two different things. Some of the biggest totals in this list came almost entirely from clean hitting, batters simply finding the boundary six times in a row. Others were inflated by extras, mainly no-balls and wides, bowled by inexperienced attacks against a rampant top order. Both count toward the official record for runs conceded in an over, but they tell very different stories about the cricket being played.
Top 5 Record Holders
- 52 runs, Albertina Galan and Lucia Taylor (Argentina) off Florencia Martinez, vs Chile, 2023
- 32 runs, Sophie Devine (New Zealand) off Shikha Rana, vs India, 2015
- 28 runs, Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy (Australia) off Kanchana, vs Sri Lanka, 2019/20
- 27 runs, Mithali Raj and Jemimah Rodrigues (India) off Nilakshi de Silva, vs Sri Lanka, 2018/19
- 27 runs, Laura Wolvaardt and Nicole de Klerk (South Africa) off Kavisha Dilhari Prabodhani, vs Sri Lanka, 2023/24
1. The Argentina Over That Broke Records
Argentina’s 427 for 1 against Chile in Buenos Aires produced the single most chaotic over in the sport’s history. Chile handed a debut cap to 15-year-old Florencia Martinez, and the 14th over of Argentina’s innings spiralled completely out of control, featuring 17 no-balls alongside 35 legitimate runs off the bat, for a combined total of 52. Lucia Taylor advanced from 127 to 144 not out during that single over, while opening partner Albertina Galan moved from 85 to 103 not out. The same match also produced the highest team total in T20I history for either gender, the highest individual women’s T20I score, and the largest margin of victory by runs. It is a genuine record, but one shaped as much by an overwhelmed teenage bowler as by elite batting.
2. Sophie Devine’s Clean Sweep of Sixes and Fours
Strip away the extras, and the most impressive over in Women’s T20I history belongs to Sophie Devine. Playing for New Zealand against India at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in 2015, Devine took 32 runs off a single Shikha Rana over without a single extra involved, just four, six, six, four, six, six. Every run came from the middle of the bat, which makes it the standard against which every other genuine six-hitting over in the format gets measured.
3. Lanning and Healy Take Apart Sri Lanka
Australia’s dominant top order produced one of the format’s biggest overs against Sri Lanka at North Sydney Oval in the 2019/20 season. Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy combined for 28 runs off a single over from Kanchana, built on a string of boundaries with one wide mixed in. It remains one of the clearest examples of Australia’s depth at the top of the order, where even a mid-innings over from a part-time bowling change could disappear for close to thirty runs.
4. Mithali Raj and Jemimah Rodrigues Cash In Against Sri Lanka
India’s most experienced batter and one of its brightest young talents combined for 27 runs off a single over during a 2018/19 tour of Sri Lanka. Mithali Raj and Jemimah Rodrigues found the gaps and the boundary rope in equal measure against Nilakshi de Silva, a passage of play that captured the generational handover happening in India’s batting order at the time, with Raj’s experience and Rodrigues’ emerging power both on full display in the same six balls.
5. Wolvaardt and de Klerk Punish Sri Lanka’s Attack
South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Nicole de Klerk share the fifth spot on this list, taking 27 runs off a single over from Kavisha Dilhari Prabodhani during a 2023/24 series against Sri Lanka at Buffalo Park in East London. The over was almost entirely boundary-driven, a single, then four sixes and a four in succession, and it reflects just how dangerous South Africa’s top order has become in the years since Wolvaardt first broke into the side.
Why Sri Lanka Features So Often on This List
Three of the top five entries on this list, and several more just outside it, involve bowlers from Sri Lanka’s Women’s team conceding the damage. That is less a reflection on any individual bowler and more a sign of how often Sri Lanka has come up against some of the format’s most explosive top orders, India, Australia, and South Africa among them, during a period when those sides were building the aggressive batting depth that now defines their T20I line-ups. Think of it like a smaller club side that keeps drawing the toughest opponents in a cup competition. The results say more about the schedule than about any particular weakness in the bowling.
Genuine Records Versus Extras-Inflated Totals
The gap between Argentina’s 52 and Devine’s 32 is a useful reminder that not every entry in a runs-off-an-over list represents the same level of batting quality. Argentina’s total is the official record and will likely stand for a long time simply because it required a rare combination of a rampant top order and a bowler completely unable to find her length. Devine’s over, by contrast, came against an established international attack, which is exactly why commentators and fans still bring it up as the benchmark for a genuinely dominant passage of hitting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the record for most runs in one over in Women’s T20Is?
The record is 52 runs, scored by Albertina Galan and Lucia Taylor off Florencia Martinez during Argentina’s match against Chile in 2023, according to Guinness World Records.
What is the highest over completely from the bat, without extras?
Sophie Devine’s 32 runs off Shikha Rana for New Zealand against India in 2015 is the highest over in Women’s T20I history made up entirely of runs off the bat, with no extras involved.
Why did the Argentina vs Chile over produce so many runs?
Chile’s bowler, 15-year-old debutant Florencia Martinez, bowled 17 no-balls in the over on top of the runs conceded off the bat, pushing the total to 52 in a match that also produced several other T20I records.
Has any bowler conceded six sixes in a Women’s T20I over?
Not among the top entries on record. The closest is Sophie Devine’s over of four sixes and two fours against India, still the benchmark for a clean, extras-free assault on a single over.
