Representing your motherland is by no doubt a moment of pride and honor though with the pressure of keeping up to the expectations of your fellow citizens. What’s more special is getting a chance to lead your team from the front as a Captain. Though it brings in a lot of responsibilities, just a tiny shift in it calls our ever-rising media and obviously the ever-active social media to become the experts of the game.
Specifically, in a famous sport like Cricket, captaining a team is one of the biggest and the toughest tasks assigned to you. It is an added responsibility to the contribution you have been making with your batting/bowling. Having said that, your responsibility as a captain increases when your team needs you the most, that is in the pressure games, crucial moments which bring the fans to the edge of their seats. As a leader, your team looks towards you as their motivator, especially the youngsters and if you fail to keep up to that, it isn’t just the confidence of your teammates that comes down, but it is also their respect for you. Having a good balance keeping aside the position you hold in the team is what creates a good and winning environment in the squad.
Last Sunday, in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Final, we saw how the Black Caps skipper Kane Williamson who is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, played an exceptional captaincy inning. From being 20 off 19 balls to scoring 85 off 48 balls, Williamson made the highest score at the T20 World Cup Finals to date with the Kiwis recording the highest ever team total in the Finals of the cup. His memorable knock impressed each and every cricket fan and player across the globe. However, sadly his masterclass performance wasn’t able to take the team to the title.
Williamson is just one from the list of the greatest captaincy innings. There are many more to the list not just in T20I but in ODIs and Tests as well. In fact, Women cricketers are no less than Men. In fact, they are above them. They have also taken the position of responsibility and produced some match-winning knocks.
Let’s look at the list of Women Captains who have scored the highest individual score in the One-day International-:
1. Belinda Clark
Leading the list with domination over the fourth and fifth-highest score among the top five is the legendary Australian Belinda Clark. Leading Australia to two World Cup titles (1997 and 2005), Clark was the first woman inductee in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and the second woman in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Known for scoring the first-ever double century in Women’s ODI, Clark has the highest score of an unbeaten 229 off just 155 balls at the strike rate of 147.74 which included 22 boundaries, recorded against Denmark in December 1997. Prior to this, her 142 off 130 balls at 109.23 achieved earlier that year against New Zealand currently occupies the fifth position in the list. This isn’t all, Clark who retired from international cricket in 2005, has the hold of the fourth position in the list as well with her unbeaten 146 off 151 balls with 6 boundaries at the strike rate of 96.68 against England in 2000. Clark’s commendable contribution was not just seen on the field, she was the chief executive for Women’s Cricket Australia and a member of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women Committee.
2. Meg Lanning
A popular face for women’s cricket, Meg Lanning is the current captain of the Australian team. Under her leadership, Australia recorded a 26 match ODI winning streak which was broken by India in September this year. Being contributing to five World Championship titles- 2013 Women’s Cricket World Cup and 4 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup- 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020, Lanning holds the record for the most number of ODI centuries with 152 not out off 135 balls being her personal highest and overall, the second-highest individual total in Women ODIs till now. She achieved it against Sri Lanka in 2017 at the strike rate of 112.59. As we head towards the World Cup next year, Australia as always is one of the favourites and Lanning would be hoping to lead them to yet another title.
3. Suzie Bates
In a list dominated by Australian women, New Zealand’s Suzie Bates finds her place at the third position with her outstanding knock of 151 runs off just 94 balls against Ireland in 2018 which included 24 fours and 2 Sixes at the strike rate of 160.63, the best amongst at least the top 10 of the lists. Recipient of ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award twice (2013, 2015), she is the current leading run-scorer for the White Ferns in ODIs with a total of 4605 runs. Bates captained the side for almost seven years before handing over the responsibility to Amy Satterthwaite, who currently has the second-highest ODI runs for the White Ferns in 2018. Bates also received the Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World award in 2015.
Do you know what? BJ Clark’s unbeaten 229 is even more than that of the leader of the same category in Men’s Cricket- India’s Virendra Sehwag with 219 runs off 149 balls!!
That’s the power of Women Cricket and the strength of Women in the World.
Loves all things female cricket