The 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup was the sixth edition of the tournament, hosted by India across December 1997. It featured 11 participating teams, which was the highest level of participation for the event at the time. Over the course of 33 matches, teams competed in a format combining a group stage with a knockout phase to determine the champion.
The group stage saw Australia, England, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, India, South Africa, Ireland, and New Zealand advance to the quarter-finals. Weather played a significant role early on, as the first three matches of the knockout stage were abandoned due to torrential storms. Eventually, the semi-finals pitted India against Australia and England against New Zealand. Australia defeated India by 19 runs in Delhi, while New Zealand secured a 20-run victory over England in Chennai to set up the final.
The final took place on 29 December at Eden Gardens in Calcutta before an estimated crowd of 50,000 to 60,000. New Zealand batted first and reached 164 all out, with Debbie Hockley contributing 79 runs. Australia chased down the target, reaching 165/5 in 47.4 overs to win by five wickets. This victory marked Australia's fourth championship title.
Individual performers stood out throughout the tournament. Debbie Hockley led all players with 456 runs, while Katrina Keenan topped the bowling charts with 13 wickets. Australia's Belinda Clark notably recorded the highest individual score in a Women's Cricket World Cup with 229 not out during the group stage. In that same match against Denmark, Australia also set the record for the highest team score in tournament history with 412/3.
| Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts |
| Australia | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 |
| England | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| South Africa | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Ireland | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| Denmark | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Pakistan | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 December 1997 Scorecard |
| Australia | v | Ireland |
| Match Abandoned M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: S. V. Ramani and T. R. Kashyappan |
| 10 December 1997 Scorecard |
| Pakistan 65 (30.4 overs) | v | Denmark66/2 (29.3 overs) |
| Maliha Hussain 13 (52) Susanne Nielsen 4/9 (10 overs) | Malene Iversen 21 (73) Kiran Baluch 2/13 (7 overs) |
| Denmark Women won by 8 wickets Gangotri Glades Cricket Ground, Mysore Umpires: Shavir Tarapore and V Mouli Player of the match: Susanne Nielsen (Den) |
| 10 December 1997 Scorecard |
| England 94/7 (20 overs) | v | South Africa87/9 (20 overs) |
| Charlotte Edwards 38 (50) Kim Price 2/17 (4 overs) | Kim Price 15* (12) Charlotte Edwards 3/15 (3 overs) |
| England Women won by 7 runs Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad Umpires: Chandra Kumar and O. Krishna Player of the match: Charlotte Edwards (Eng) |
| 12 December 1997 Scorecard |
| South Africa 163/9 (50 overs) | v | Australia167/0 (28.5 overs) |
| Linda Olivier 51 (92) Charmaine Mason 2/22 (10 overs) | Belinda Clark 93* (98) |
| Australia Women won by 10 wickets M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Umpires: Sadanand Viswanath and Salemohammad Yusuf Player of the match: Belinda Clark (Aus) |
| 12 December 1997 Scorecard |
| Denmark 56/7 (23 overs) | v | Ireland57/1 (19.1 overs) |
| Jette Philipsen 10 (43) Barbara McDonald 3/12 (5 overs) | Nikki Squire 21* (62) Janni Jonsson 1/18 (5 overs) |
| Ireland Women won by 9 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Umpires: KR Shankar and S Balachandran Player of the match: Barbara McDonald (Ire) |
| 12 December 1997 Scorecard |
| England 376/2 (50 overs) | v | Pakistan146/3 (47 overs) |
| Barbara Daniels 142* (103) Shaiza Khan 1/64 (9 overs) | Sharmeen Khan 41 (68) Melissa Reynard 2/36 (10 overs) |
| England Women won by 230 runs Indira Gandhi Stadium, Vijayawada Umpires: G. A. Pratapkumar and Surya Prakash Rao Player of the match: Jan Brittin (Eng) |
| 14 December 1997 Scorecard |
| Pakistan 27 (13.4 overs) | v | Australia28/1 (6.1 overs) |
| Kiran Ahtazaz 11* (12) Olivia Magno 3/0 (1.4 overs) | Michelle Goszko 18* (25) |
| Australia Women won by 9 wickets Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad Umpires: K. Parthasarathy and Ramesh Jadhav Player of the match: Olivia Magno (Aus) |
| 14 December 1997 Scorecard |
| England 301/4 (50 overs) | v | Denmark107/7 (50 overs) |
| Helen Plimmer 87 (104) Susanne Nielsen 2/51 (10 overs) | Karin Mikkelsen 39* (82) Clare Taylor 2/12 (10 overs) |
Squad lists and statistics via Wikipedia