New Delhi [India], December 29 (ANI): Star India opener Smriti Mandhana joined South African star Laura Wolvaardt, Sri Lanka all-rounder Chamari Athapaththu, Australia’s Annabel Sutherland as the nominees for the 2024 ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year.
In 12 ODI innings this year, Mandhana made 747 runs at an average of 61.91, with strike rate of 95.15, with four centuries and three fifties. Her best score was 136.
A pair of centuries in June against South Africa in Bengaluru really got Mandhana’s 2024 campaign rolling and the left-hander managed two further hundreds later in the year to stay in good touch right up until December.
Mandhana managed a total of 343 runs from three innings in a ‘Player of the Series’ effort against South Africa got her third hundred of 2024 when amassing 100 in the final match of India’s home series against New Zealand right after the completion of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Another hundred followed in the final match of her side’s three-game series with Australia in December, but that was in vain as the Aussies completed a 3-0 series sweep of their own.
Mandhana’s best all-round effort came in the second match of India’s home series against South Africa in June, when she scored a century and picked up a key wicket to help her side to a narrow four-wicket victory.
The 28-year-old got India going with a brilliant innings of 136 from just 120 deliveries, that included 18 fours and two sixes – as the side managed to amass a big total of 325/3 after they were sent into bat.
Mandhana then picked up the key wicket of Sune Luus during South Africa’s reply as the Proteas fell agonisingly short of victory.
Also, South Africa’s Wolvaardt commenced the year in a glut as she managed just seven runs from three innings against Australia, but that lack of form didn’t last long as the South Africa captain went on a run-scoring spree in almost every ODI contest that followed that series, as per ICC.
In 12 innings, she made 697 runs at an average of 87.12, with three centuries and three fifties and best score of 184*.
A pair of unbeaten centuries against Sri Lanka – including a career-best 184* in Potchefstroom – whet Wolvaardt’s appetite and the 25-year-old then made it three centuries in four matches when she hit 135 against India in Bengaluru in June.
Another half-century followed against India before Wolvaardt finished her 2024 campaign with a trio of good scores against England on home soil in December.
Wolvaardt produced her best effort with the bat when she scored a career-best 184* against Sri Lanka in Potchefstroom in April.
It was an innings of pure class from the South African right-hander, who smashed 23 fours and four massive sixes in what was a superb individual performance.
The innings of 184 came from just 147 deliveries and helped South Africa amass a massive total of 301/5 against the Asian side.
-Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka)
In nine innings, Chamari made 458 runs at an average of 65.42, with a strike rate of 101.10, with best score of 195*. She also took nine wickets at an average of 32.22.
Athapaththu did not actually make her first ODI appearance of 2024 until April, but she immediately hit the ground running as she contributed scores of 51 and 195* in a 1-1 series result against South Africa away from home.
The 34-year-old continued with that rich vein of form into the three-match ODI series against the West Indies where she managed 130 runs and four wickets as Sri Lanka completed an emphatic 3-0 series sweep.
An innings of 48 and a three-wicket haul with the ball from Sri Lanka’s final ODI match of the year in Belfast saw Athapaththu end her 2024 on a high in ODI cricket.
Athapaththu’s best performance ironically came in the same contest as Wolvaardt, with the Sri Lanka veteran scoring a superb 195 to lead her side to victory.
Chasing north of 300 in an ODI is never easy, but that’s exactly what Athapaththu and Sri Lanka made it look as they chased down South Africa’s score of 301/5 with more than five overs remaining.
The Sri Lanka skipper smashed 26 fours and five massive sixes during her 139-ball stay, trumping Wolvaardt’s effort that helped the island nation square the three-match series at 1-1.
-Annabel Sutherland (Australia)
In nine innings, Sutherland made 369 runs at an average of 52.71, with two centuries and a fifty. Her best score was 110. She also took 13 wickets averaging 17.69. The 23-year-old commenced the year with a two-wicket haul in Australia’s victory over India in Mumbai and was then relatively quiet during a three-match series at home against South Africa that the Aussies managed to win 2-1.
Opportunities were scarce for Sutherland during Australia’s white-ball tour of Bangladesh in March, although the talented all-rounder did manage an unbeaten innings of 58 in an easy victory in the series opener in Mirpur.
It wasn’t until the backend of the year in consecutive series against India at home and New Zealand away that Sutherland really shone, with the youngster scoring centuries in consecutive matches against different opponents and claiming Player of the Series honours for her efforts against Harmanpreet Kaur’s side.
Sutherland’s best all-round effort came at the famous WACA Ground in Perth when she scored her third ODI century to lead her side to an emphatic 3-0 series sweep over India.
The 23-year-old smashed nine fours and four massive sixes at the Perth ground to score 110 from just 95 deliveries and backed up that effort with the bat by claiming the crucial wicket of India captain Harmanpreet Kaur in reply as Australia ran out easy winners. (ANI)
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HINDI, MARATHI, GUJARATI, TAMIL, TELUGU, BENGALI, KANNADA, ORIYA, PUNJABI, URDU, MALAYALAM
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