The Oval Invincibles were successful in the first-ever The Hundred Women’s tournament in 2021 when they defeated Southern Brave by 48 runs in the final at Lord’s. Head coach Jonathan Batty will be hoping his side can do it all again this year.
In what was an excellent opening campaign in the competition, the Invincibles finished second in the group standings before advancing through to the knockout stages. The defending champions have been able to retain many of the stars from last season’s team.
If Oval are to have the same success in the 2022 Women’s The Hundred, they will need their captain Dane van Niekerk to have a similar season. The South Africa international was the highest scorer in the competition last year with 259 runs.
Van Niekerk is an all-rounder who has had a lot of success in international cricket in all formats of the game. She proved to be an inspirational leader for her side in their first year as a team. Her performance in the final against Southern Brave earned her the MVP award.
The 28-year-old is a player who has an impressive strike rate at the crease. She scored the first-ever half-century in the women’s competition in 2021. Oval will be hoping she makes more history with the bat in their title defense.
Strong Team Includes Kapp, Farrant and Ismail
Van Niekerk is not the only star international player the Invincibles have in this year’s competition. Her South African compatriots Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail will join her in London.
Kapp has scored over 3,000 runs for her country, so she has a lot of experience in cricket around the world. She took the first wicket at the 2021 The Hundred and the final wicket which gave her side victory in the final.
The all-rounder had impressive figures of 4-9 in the win over Brave. She is likely to be a key weapon in Oval’s bowling attack in the 100-ball competition this summer.
Ismail is considered one of the fastest bowlers in women’s cricket, boasting over 250 wickets for her country. The 33-year-old will reunite with her international teammate Kapp to combine as one of the strongest opening bowling partnerships in The Hundred.
England’s Tash Farrant will also return to the Invincibles once again in 2022. She was the leading wicket-taker in the competition last year with 18 wickets, which shows what a huge role she played in her team’s trophy success.
Farrant, who plays ODI and T20 international cricket for her country, was part of the England team that reached the final of the women’s Cricket World Cup earlier this year in New Zealand.
Northern Superchargers First Up for Invincibles
The Invincibles will begin their title defense against Northern Superchargers at the Kia Oval. It is the opening game of this year’s competition. It will be a strong first test for Batty’s side as their opponents have a team that includes Jemimah Rodrigues, Alyssa Healy, Laura Wolvaardt, and Jenny Gunn.
If Oval can get off to a winning start, it will give them a lot of confidence for the rest of the campaign. With home advantage, they are favorites with the bookmakers to prevail in the opener.
The defending champions are also among the favorites in the outright betting for the 2022 Women’s The Hundred. They are +400 on cricket betting sites like bet365, who are rated as one of the top 10 best cricket betting sites. They also offer the opportunity to pick up a free bet which can be used on the competition this year.
Southern Brave and Birmingham Phoenix are also two of the other favorites in the betting at +350 and +600, respectively. Both teams have assembled strong rosters as they bid to win the second renewal of the tournament and should be strong challengers to the Invincibles.
One of the big advantages Oval has over their rivals is that they have lots of players who can win a game single-handedly in this format of the sport. Their squad is arguably even stronger than when they lifted the trophy in 2021. They will be expected to reach the knockout stages at the very least again later this year.
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