England were one of the first Test-playing nations to adopt the T20 format. The England Cricket Board (ECB) successfully kick-started the 20-over format on June 13, 2003, with the Twenty20 Cup, a tournament between the English counties.

The English cricket team have also found success in the format, especially in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. England have won one T20 World Cup title in 2010 and finished runners-up in 2016.

England at the T20 World Cup: First major ICC title in 2010

England were knocked out of the Super 8s in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007. They hosted the 2009 edition but suffered a similar fate in the Super 8s as their win against India was not enough to take them into the semi-final.

The English cricket team, led by Paul Collingwood, began the 2010 edition in the Caribbean with a loss against West Indies. However, after the initial setback, the Three Lions found their form in the Super 8s. 

Kevin Pietersen guided England to victory against Pakistan in their first Super 8 game with an unbeaten knock of 73 runs in 52 balls. Pietersen was the headline-maker once again in the 39-run win against South Africa. The Three Lions cruised into the semi-final after another last-over success against New Zealand, making it out of the Super 8s for the first time in the tournament. 

The English bowlers dismantled the Sri Lankan batting line-up in the semi-final. Following Stuart Broad’s tantalising spell of 2/21, it was the Kevin Pietersen show with the bat once again as the middle-order batter scored 42 runs at a strike-rate of 161.53 to engineer England’s seven-wicket victory.

England faced rivals Australia in the final at Bridgetown. Ryan Sidebottom’s fiery two-wicket spell reduced the Aussies to 147/6 in the first innings. Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen set the game up for England, scoring 111 runs for the second wicket, before the captain Paul Collingwood fittingly smashed the winning runs for England.

The Three Lions won their first major ICC trophy and also became the first non-Asian team to win the T20 World Cup after India and Pakistan won it in 2007 and 2009, respectively.

After the success in 2010, the English team had relatively underwhelming campaigns in the 2012 and 2014 editions. 

England suffered yet another Super 8 elimination in 2012 following defeats to eventual finalists, West Indies and Sri Lanka. The Three Lions managed to win only once in four group-stage encounters in 2014, with a shocking 45-run loss to the Netherlands ending their journey prematurely.

England at the T20 World Cup: Heartbreak in Kolkata

The start of England’s campaign in the 2016 edition in India was against West Indies. As it happened in 2010, they were beaten by the Caribbean team by six wickets.

However, England bounced back instantly to win the rest of the Super 10 matches. The three wins in a row included the most successful run chase in the T20 World Cup, as they chased down the target of 230 runs against South Africa in a final-over thriller, thanks to Joe Root’s whirlwind knock of 83 runs from 44 balls.

England overcame the Kiwi hurdle in the semi-final at Delhi, winning by seven wickets with 17 balls to spare. Ben Stokes picked up three wickets, helping restrict New Zealand to 153/8 before Jason Roy dazzled with the bat and scored a decisive 78-run knock.

In the 2016 World T20 final, Joe Root and Jos Buttler’s rescue act after a poor start helped England post 155 runs on the scoreboard. England looked in control with the ball as the majority of the West Indian batting lineup was cleaned up. With 19 runs needed in the final over, the in-form Ben Stokes looked primed to close the game out for the Three Lions. But an onslaught from Carlos Brathwaite, who hit four sixes off the first four balls, clinched the second T20 World Cup title for West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The English team was regarded as one of the favourites in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. England won four of the five Super 10 matches to advance into the semi-final. However, they failed to cross the Kiwi hurdle in the final four match. New Zealand chased down the target of 167 runs in the penultimate over to end the Three Lions’ campaign.

England at the T20 World Cup: Top Individual Performances

Kevin Pietersen is the leading run-scorer for England in the T20 World Cup. Pietersen smashed 580 runs in 15 matches with an average of 44.61. He featured in the 2007, 2009 and 2010 editions of the tournament.

Stuart Broad was a part of the English team across five editions. He picked 30 wickets in 26 matches, the most wickets by an English bowler in the T20 World Cup.

In the 2021 edition, Adil Rashid bowled a memorable spell, taking four wickets while conceding only two runs. It is the best spell by any English bowler in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Alex Hales, who will be a part of the 2022 edition, scored 116 runs against Sri Lanka in 2014, which remains the highest individual score by an English batter in the T20 World cup. Jos Buttler is the other centurion for the Three Lions in the T20 World Cup after his knock against the same opposition in 2021.

England at the T20 World Cup: Results and records

T20 World Cup	England’s result	Top run-scorer	Top wicket-taker
2007	Super 8s	Kevin Pietersen (178)	Stuart Broad (5)
2009	Super 8s	Kevin Pietersen (154)	Stuart Broad (9)
2010	Champions	Kevin Pietersen (248)	Ryan Sidebottom (10)
2012	Super 8s	Luke Wright (193)	Steven Finn (8)
2014	Super 10s	Alex Hales (166)	Stuart Broad (4)
2016	Runners-up	Joe Root (249)	David Willey (10)
2021	Semi-finalists	Jos Buttler (269)	Adil Rashid (9)