The last month of 2021 is here and guess what? Next year is the World Cup year for Women’s cricket. The excitement for which has already started building as we got the top 8 competitors who would be racing to become the World Champions in March/April.
As we head towards the big event, let’s look at all-time leading run-scorers of Women’s World Cup-:
1. Debbie Hockley:
Leading the overall tally for batters in the Women’s World Cup, former White Ferns captain Debbie Hockley has scored 1501 runs in 45 matches/43 innings at an average of 42.88 from the five Cups she represented New Zealand in- 1982, 1988, 1993, 1997 and, 2000. The first woman president of New Zealand Cricket, Hockey finished among the top 5 in three of the World Cups- 446 in 1988 (2nd position), 229 in 1993(5th, though runs tied with India’s Sandhya Agarwal who finished at 4th scoring them in a match less than her), at top of the table in 1997 with 456 runs (2 100s, 2 50s).
2. JA Brittin:
Following Hockley is the former English batter, Jan Brittin with 1299 runs in 36 matches/35 innings at the World Cup with an average of 43.30, the highest being an unbeaten 138. The November 2021 ICC Cricket Hall of Fame inductee, Brittin played four world cups with England- 1982, 1988, 1993, and 1997 finishing as the leading runs scorer twice, first in her maiden world cup appearance in 1982 where she made 391 runs in 12 matches recording her personal best ODI score of 138*, the second in 1993 with 410 runs in 8 innings (2 100s, 1 50). She is tied with her countrymate Charlotte Edwards who is next in the run-scorer list, for the most number of world cup centuries (4).
3. Charlotte Edwards:
The second-highest run-scorer of women’s international cricket, England’s Charlotte Edwards is the third in the category with 1231 runs at 53.52 in 30 matches/28 innings. Tied with Brittin for the most number of world cup centuries (4), Edwards represented England in five World Cups- 1997, 2000,2005,2009 (captain), and 2013. In 2005, she finished as the leading run-scorer with 280 in 6 innings at 46.66, just 15 runs ahead of the then captain Claire Taylor. In the 2009 edition, she was named the captain of the team of the tournament while in 2013 finished third with 292 runs.
4. Belinda Clark:
The first woman inductee into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and second in ICC’s, Belinda Clark is the next one on the list with 1151 World Cup runs at 60.57. In 29 marches/26 innings. The first women ODI double ton scorer, Clark represented Aussies in 1993,1997,2000, and 2005 World Cup, leading the team to the title in 1997 and 2005 while finishing as the Runners-up in 2000.
5. Mithali Raj:
The leading ODI run-scorer, India’s legendary Mithali Raj is at the fifth position with 1139 World Cup runs in 31 matches/29 innings at 54.23 with 2 100s and 9 50s. The only Indian women captain to take the team to two World Cup Finals (2005, 2017), Raj has represented India in five World Cups since 2000, captaining four of them- 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017 and is now looking forward to the only missing title in her bag full of achievements, the World Cup Trophy for which she would be giving a last try next year.
The 12th edition of the Women’s Cricket World Cup which got delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic starts on 4th March 2022 in New Zealand with the Finals on 3rd April and will witness eight teams- Australia, India, England, South Africa, New Zealand, West Indies, Bangladesh, and Pakistan competing for the title.
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