Explained: Why ICC Women's T20 World Cup Final is Starting an Hour Late?

The ICC Women's T20 World Cup final is all set to be played between England and Australia at the historic Lord's, London. While hosts England will be hoping to lift their first ICC title since 2017, Australia will be looking to establish their credentials as the best women's cricket team in the world.

However, the big match will not start at the usual timings. Instead, it will begin one hour late. All the day-night games of the Women's T20 World Cup 2026 have started at 7:00 PM IST, but the final match will begin from 8:00 PM IST.

Why ICC Women's T20 World Cup Final is Starting Late?

The ICC Women's T20 World Cup final delay is to accomodate the closing ceremony scheduled just before the game. The event will be held half an hour before the toss. The ICC Women's T20 World Cup closing ceremony timing is scheduled to be 7:00 PM IST, the usual starting time for the match.

Talking about the Women's T20 World Cup Closing ceremony performers, Rita Ora will entertain the fans with her famous pop music. The event will be live streamed on JioHotstar and Star Sports, the official broadcasters for the tournament.

After the trophy presentation later, Electronic pop band Clean Bandit will be performing. It is a great gesture by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to make this event a memorable one.

Two Best Teams in Final

The ENG-W vs AUS-W final will be played between two of the only unbeaten teams of the tourmament. Both sides have been exceptional so far and will be looking to end their tournament on a high. Both of them won their semi-final fixtures quite convincingly, showing how dominating they have been.
Australia are arguably the best team in women's cricket history, having won the T20 World Cup title six times so far. Meanwhile, England have won the tournament just once, in 2009, which was also the inaugural season for the women's edition.
Both England and England share one of the greatest rivalries in cricket history. This makes up for a fascinating clash of two teams full of stars. England will have the home advantage but Australia have been the team to beat in the tournament so far.