Women's T20 World Cup - The tournament so far...
The Women’s T20 World Cup is, by and large, progressing according to the form book, although it was a surprise that Asia Cup Champions, Sri Lanka, lost all three of their opening matches to become the first team eliminated along with World Cup first-timers Scotland.
Scorching temperatures in the UAE and some extremely low and slow pitches, especially in Sharjah, have contributed to many low-scoring matches and runs have been particularly hard to come by when batting at night under lights when the ball has seamed and swung more than during the day.
Australia and England, first and second favourites before the tournament began are the only two unbeaten teams while India and South Africa remain on course to complete the semifinal line-ups.
Neil Manthorp has a look at the tournament so far:
Top player: Too many to choose from, but we’ll go with Sophie Devine, New Zealand’s captain, who crafted an unbeaten 57 from 36 balls to help her team to a total of 160 for four and a surprise victory by 58 runs against India in their opening match.
The dual international (hockey) is 35 now but shows no signs of slowing down.
Top bowler: South Africa's Nonkululeka Mlaba was outstanding against the West Indies with 4-29 to help restrict them to a modest 118 for six and no less impressive in the 80-run drubbing of minnows Scotland where she claimed 3-12.
Celebrating another phenomenal bowling performance from Nonkululeko Mlaba! 👏
— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) October 9, 2024
Keep shining, Mlaba! ⚡️🏏🇿🇦#AlwaysRising #WhateverItTakes #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/5KrbrBXayo
The left-arm spinner (1-22) was economical in the seven-wicket loss to England and will be important in the final group match against Bangladesh and, hopefully, the semifinal.
Top batter: Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt has been outstanding at the top of the order with an unbeaten 59 against the West Indies, 42 against England and 40 from just 27 balls in the Scottish battering when a big score was needed, and quickly, to improve a sluggish net run-rate.
That she scored them with her customary style goes without saying.
Laura Wolvaardt tops the run-scoring chart so far at #T20WorldCup 2024 🔥
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) October 11, 2024
More stats ➡️ https://t.co/ycWrJPyCKy pic.twitter.com/Hd1pZqfYD2
The best individual innings of the tournament so far, however, belongs to Indian captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, with a stunning 52 from just 27 balls against Sri Lanka.
Outstanding team: Australia. As (mostly) always. Beat Sri Lanka by six wickets with over six overs to spare, walloped Tasman rivals New Zealand by 60 runs and will surely brush Pakistan aside in their third game before facing India.
Top SA player: Marizanne Kapp has provided yet more evidence that she is comfortably the best allrounder in the game.
Against the West Indies she claimed 2-14 from her four overs and smashed 43 from only 24 balls to put the game well beyond the reach of Scotland.
There are calls for her to bat at three rather than four - as well as open the bowling. Some people are never satisfied!
Best match: There haven’t been any nail-biters so far, but any India-Pakistan match is a big deal in the world of cricket and this low-scoring affair, won by India by six wickets with seven balls to spare, was absorbing for the extra dimension of the rivalry.
It also exhibited one of the main differences between the men’s game and the women’s. No niggle, just respect.
Best individual performance: Australia’s opening bowler, Megan Schutt, claimed 3-12 against Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka to overtake South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail as the leading wicket-taker in T20 World Cups.
Top talking point: Boundaries. They have been pretty much the same as for men’s matches, particularly in Sharjah.
Some sceptics have suggested covert misogyny, particularly after equal prize money is on offer at this tournament for the first time. Same cash? Same conditions. It’s nonsense, of course.
The women’s game requires different skills and has different nuances. It requires different playing conditions.
Quote of the week: “We’re pretty confident in the squad that we have all the options we need to adapt to different conditions. Having so many allrounders in the squad means we always have an extra seamer or spinner if that’s what we need, which is great for a captain.” – Wolvaardt.
What to look out for: The pre-tournament favourites for the semifinals are on course at the moment.
Australia are virtually unstoppable and if England win their last two group games, against the West Indies and Scotland, that would leave Wolvaardt’s team playing Australia and India up against England.
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