On Monday, the winning eleven of Women T20 World Cup 2024 Team of the Tournament was named by the ICC. Only the Indian skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur was the only Indian player in the side.
In an otherwise average India return, Harmanpreet Kaur emerged to be the only silver lining for the Women in Blue. She was the leading run-getter for her side and was the fourth overall leading run scorer in the tournament with 150 runs in four appearances.
Harmanpreet had a fifty-run inning and a twenty-one fifties in this tournament. Her strike rate touched 133.92 which ranked her fifth overall in this tournament. Kaur’s quick-fire fifty-two runs off twenty-seven balls kept the semifinal hopes alive for the Indian team in the game against Sri Lanka.
Wolvaardt scored many crucial runs at the top of the order for South Africa leading their Young captain Laura Wolvaardt. Wolvaardt reached thirty in every game except one and achieved over forty in four games. Though the highest score was made during the first game, it was her stubborn 42 during the semi-final that laid a solid foundation for her side in their successful chase against Australia.
As the score neared 135, Wolvaardt’s positioning helped her team maintain a lead in the game, hitting three fours and a six facilitating Anneke Bosch to settle down and enact a brilliant counterattack.
South Africa’s opening batsman built a good partnership with their captain Laura Wolvaardt and took the team through to the finals. In six innings, Brits scored 187 runs with an average of 37.40 which put her in the second position in the tournament after Wolvaardt. Harmanpreet made more than 40 runs in three occasions, including a critical 57 not out in South Africa’s opener against West Indies.
For the England side, Danni Wyatt-Hodge was a great opener and ended as their leading run-scorer in the tournament. The right-hander scored 40+ in England’s first three fixtures.
Wyatt-Hodge kick-started her tournament with a brisk 41 against Bangladesh, later she scored 43 off 43 balls while chasing South Africa. Most notably, the English batter made a blistering 426 runs against Scotland in the second last game crushing the opposition and providing perfect support to Maia Bouchier for a 10 wicket victory at a record partnership while not losing her wicket and scoring a ‘51’ in just ‘26 balls’.
Melie Kerr was awarded the Player of the Final as well as of the tournament and she was instrumental in New Zealand’s title winning campaign. Harmanpreet was impressive with bat scoring 135 runs through six innings while hitting a high score of 43 in the final. In the tournament, she captured 15 wickets which made her the tournament’s best bowler.
In the final match, New Zealand’s victory in the second ICC tournament was aided by an impressive all-round performance during which 24 runs off three wickets, including pivotal players Wolvaardt and Bosch, were taken in the final.
Deandra Dottin impressed on her return to the international stage for the West Indies. She scored 120 runs over five innings at an average of 40. She performed well at the middle order, which was key for the team. Nine of her tournament-widest championship-capture hits were sixes: teammate Qiana Joseph managed only three.
Dottin rounded off her contribution with the ball as well, taking a further 5 wickets in the tournament, including a match-defining 4 for 22 against New Zealand in the semi final. Her swift innings hitting was decisive for the West indies in the virtual quarterfinal against England, ensuring their entrance to the semifinals. The Tigresses were well served in all departments by the Bangladesh wicketkeeper who stood up with the bat and the gloves too.
In a span of 4 innings she accumulated 104 runs averaging 34.66 with a best of 39 against West indies. But her biggest contributions came with the gloves on her hands making six stumpings and a single catch. Seven dismissals is more than any of the wicketkeepers in the whole tournament.
For the West indies, Afy Fletcher was instrumental with the ball who ended up with the third best wickets tally in this T20 World Cup. The 37-year-old however managed to turn up from the corker where Harmanpreet was goalless against Proteas capturing ten wickets including two three-wicket returns against Scotland and England.
During the final group stage of West Indies against England, Harmanpreet registered her best figures of 3-21. She picked two crucial wickets and finished with a commendable 17* in the semi-final which her team lost to the eventual winners New Zealand.
Rosemary Mair, a pace bowler from New Zealand who had made her mark in this tournament started and ended it with excellent two performances. Harmanpreet helped the white ferns win the crucial first match against India with 4/19 and good bowling at the start and the end of the match including bowling out Harmanpreet Kaur.
Mair once again put in good work in the final, posting figures of 3/25, where she bowled four big overs in powerplay and the death of the innings. Mair’s fast, moving balls made her a dangerous bowler for New Zealand. Among all the pace bowlers, she had the most wickets — hauling ten scalps and finishing third in the tournament behind her fellow finalists Nonkululeko Mlaba and Melie Kerr.
The South African pace bowler put a stamp on her team’s tournament, recording an impressive 4/29 against the West Indies in her first match.
Mlaba was a key bowler for the Proteas at the tournament, often experimenting with her speeds and lengths to get the desired effect on the opposition batters. Whenever a partnership started to pose problems for South Africa, captain Wolvaardt often reached for Mlaba for quick breakthroughs and she delivered.
In the semifinal, she was instrumental in dismissing Tahlia McGrath, whose partnership with other Australian batsmen had a lot of potential. In the finals, Mlaba claimed Bates and Kerr, who scored 32 and 43 respectively and put decent scores on the board.
Australia’s pacer Megan Schutt had a good game in UAE and throughout the innings, she caused trouble to the batters. Harmanpreet was not only economical but also claimed wickets. She bowled well in the group match against New Zealand, who went on to win the tournament. In the New Zealand run chase of 149, Shutt was the first bowler to strike by removing Georgia Plimmer for just 4 runs. She dismissed Melie Kerr and Eden Carson in the 12th and 20th overs respectively during the same match which Australia won comfortably.
Megan Schutt’s performance was so impressive that only three runs were scored off her, in her 3.2 overs.
Women’s T20 WC Team of the Tournament: Laura Wolvaardt (C), Tazmin Brits, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Melie Kerr, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deandra Dottin, Nigar Sultana Joty (WK), Afy Fletcher, Rosemary Mair, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Megan Schutt.