Gongadi Trisha has made an assured start to her innings, hitting two boundaries during the Powerplay. Sanika Chalke provides invaluable support.
Chloe Tryon and Annerie Dercksen managed to keep the chase alive, but without sufficient firepower at lower levels they couldn’t turn it into a successful one.
1. Gongadi Trisha
Gongadi Trisha has provided India with another argument in their pursuit of the top spot at the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup final against South Africa. She has been impressive with both bat and spinner during the tournament, consistently scoring runs while wrecking havoc at wickets.
India’s 19-year-old star at Kuala Lumpur was India’s talisman in terms of runs scored, scoring 309 including her maiden hundred. But the real highlight came during the final when she led India to victory with an unbeaten knock of 44 to lead them past opponents Bangladesh by herself while also taking 3/15 with her bowl.
Trisha opened India’s innings alongside Kamalini Gunalan and both gave India an excellent start in its pursuit. Trisha kept attacking South African bowlers with her powerful strokeplay, teaming up with Sanika Chalke in the middle order to keep India scoring runs. Her striking was too much for South African bowlers to handle as she helped India take an impressive first powerplay lead. As just 12 runs needed from 10 overs, Trisha and Chalke continued scoring boundaries to put South Africa out of contention for victory.
2. Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana has emerged as an integral member of India’s women’s cricket team since Mithali Raj departed. She holds numerous records both T20 and ODI cricket including scoring the fastest century ever, two ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year awards, and second on the list for most international centuries in shorter formats. As well as captaining Royal Challengers Bengaluru in WPL competition she served as vice captain to India at 2024 World Cup tournament.
Mandhana has earned the respect of many cricket fans worldwide with her elegant yet aggressive batting style, earning her widespread acclaim among them. Additionally, Mandhana is well known as an ambassador of cricket as well as being an inspiration to young female fans interested in cricket.
Mandhana was raised in Mumbai before attending Shardashram Vidyamandir school in Sangli, Maharashtra for her primary education. Balancing academic responsibilities with rigorous training sessions, she quickly made it onto Maharashtra U-15 team at age nine before going on to represent its Under-19 side as well.
3. Shafali Verma
Shafali Verma’s blazing 30-ball 60 in India’s victory against South Africa in their home series was just another stunning display from this 17-year-old opener. Shafali has made an outstanding start to her international career and consistently produces exceptional knocks – providing her with that ‘X factor’ many Indian batters lack.
Child prodigy Amy Satterthwaite has made waves ever since her ODI debut in 2021. Her aggressive and power-hitting prowess have won over her teammates who had struggled to find an all-round match winner at the top of their batting order for long.
Youngster Jadeja has shown glimpses of Virender Sehwag with her ability to smash boundaries at will. Additionally, she boasts a high strike rate, which is one of the key ingredients of an effective batter. As such, there is strong support for including Jadeja in the World Cup squad; however, selection committee members would need to carefully consider their choice between consistency and explosive potential when selecting their team members.
4. Arundhati Reddy
Arundhati Reddy was initially encouraged by her mother Bhagya to participate in sports as a youngster, which eventually lead her down a successful path as an amateur fast bowler. Today, Arundhati Reddy enjoys taking to her career with great gusto and takes great pleasure from every delivery of a fast bowler game she bowls at a high level tournaments like World T20 and Asia Cup.
Hyderabad-based pacer Shehla Rasool had long awaited an opportunity to shine at the World Cup and her success in WPL 2024 has given her that chance. In her debut match against Pakistan she scalped Nida Dar and Omaima Sohail to help India restrict them to just 78/6 runs in total.
Pooja Vastrakar missed her turn due to a minor niggle but stepped in as replacement in the second match and bowled disciplined swing bowling to claim three wickets at an economy rate of 4.16.
Reddy’s deliveries were tight, forcing Proteas openers Sune Luus and Tazmin Brits to play cautiously and make them more careful with their power shots, both often being hit back on to their stumps or caught at mid-off. While Reddy cannot change everything immediately, she will try her hardest to add momentum.
5. Sneh Rana
Rana hails from a modest household in Sinaula and has overcome all adversity through hard work and unwavering dedication, becoming an inspiration to others through her match-winning performances for UP Warriorz in limited-overs cricket matches. She stands as an incredible testament to resilience.
At 22-years old, she first caught our attention during the 2021 WPL with her spectacular bowling against England Women, earning her selection in the national squad quickly afterward. Her debut Test match at Bristol proved memorable: picking up 4/131 from 39.2 overs and going on to score an 80* off 154 runs while remembering her late father who passed two months earlier.
Rana orchestrated India’s remarkable turnaround against South Africa in the final innings and made an indelible mark on her opponents. She shattering their batting order and becoming the first Indian women’s cricketer ever to collect 10 wickets – along with emphasizing how perceptions about off-spinners need to change.
6. Nadine De Klerk
Batting all-rounder Mpho Phangiso has been an integral member of South Africa’s squad, appearing in 16 ODIs and 24 T20Is so far. She served as travelling reserve at the 2022 World Cup and has scored 129 runs while picking up 15 wickets – an outstanding record!
De Klerk believes the Proteas can be much stronger than they showed in their opening game against England at Bristol on Friday and is determined to raise the ante when taking on England for their second ODI at Bristol on Saturday. She hopes a strong showing could give the visitors an opportunity to even the series, something she is keenly looking forward to happening.
De Klerk has been an invaluable addition to the Proteas squad and is a source of constant inspiration to her younger teammates. She hopes to further expand South Africa’s women’s cricket and is an advocate of SA-W cricket as an advocate. De Klerk spoke about its significance, admiration for Marizanne Kapp and more in an interview with Female Cricket.
7. Laura Wolvaardt
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt is an outstanding batswoman. Combining technical proficiency with discipline and mental toughness, Laura Wolvaardt can take any bowling attack head on. Additionally, Laura stands out as being one of few world-class batters capable of anchoring innings in crunch situations – this talent has allowed her to rack up impressive scores against some of the greatest teams in cricket.
Wolvaardt produced one of her career best scores during South Africa’s tight ten-wicket win against Bangladesh at Newlands during an ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 semi-final. Working alongside Sune Luus at the top of their respective orders, both held firm to avoid aerial shots while building an imposing total on a slow pitch.
Proteas captain Marizanne Kapp is an Instagram sensation and boasts over 200k followers. A strong supporter of women’s cricket, she has advocated for more red-ball tournaments to be included on the domestic calendar and more Test matches must take place to prepare her team for long-format competition.
8. Nonkululeko Mlaba
Nonkululeko Mlaba first emerged five years ago as she progressed through age-group cricket, showing glimpses of brilliance that hinted at an eventual place on South African’s national team. Now, one win away from fulfilling that dream for thousands of young girls across her nation.
Slow left-arm spinner Reeza Hendricks has been at the heart of Proteas attack during this T20 World Cup tournament, taking important wickets like Smriti Mandhana and Jemima Rodrigues that put India under immense pressure.
Mlaba is fearless with the ball, relishing in creating pressure on opposing batsmen with her spinner skills. She idolises Imran Tahir from South Africa leg-spinner cricket who recently retired after 13 years, with ambitions of becoming one of women’s cricket’s premier spinners.
Mlaba hails from a rural area in South Africa and understands the larger picture of playing for her nation. With her trademark blonde locks, dance celebrations after every wicket and devotion to her one-year-old puppy – all trademarks of Mlaba’s unique character. Mlaba embodies Siya Kolisi’s world champion Springboks team in this regard.
Sports BackLinks Team