The Veteran New Zealand pacer Lea Tahuhu will replace Lauren Cheatle in Gujarat Giants for the upcoming 2nd edition of the WPL
The Gujarat Giants invested heavily in the likes of Phoebe Litchfield, Kashvee Gautam, etc in the WPL 2024 auctions after releasing the most number of players from the squad ahead of the auctions. However, they have suffered a huge blow ahead of the 2nd edition of the WPL as the Australian pacer Lauren Cheatle is ruled out of the 2nd edition of the WPL as skin cancer has been removed from her neck. Last week we named our three players, Kim Garth, Lea Tahuhu, and Nicola Carey as our candidates who can replace Lauren Cheatle in the Gujarat Giants squad for the upcoming 2nd edition of the WPL that will get underway on 23rd February 2024.
Reportedly, in an official announcement Gujarat Giants have named the White Ferns veteran Lea Tahuhu as Lauren Cheatle’s replacement for the upcoming edition of the WPL. The veteran white-ferns pacer picked up 5 wickets with the ball in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan. Her best performance in the series came on 18th December 2023 when she returned with match figures (2/30) in her spell in the 3rd ODI.
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Gujarat Giants (GG) named New Zealand's Lea Tahuhu as a replacement for Lauren Cheatle.#CricketTwitter #WPL2024 pic.twitter.com/tyKuhuxySf
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 10, 2024
She also picked up 10 wickets at a strike rate of 17.40 and an average of 16 in 8 innings for Canterbury Magicians in the Women’s Super Smash. Apart from her exploits with the ball, she also scored 58 runs at a strike rate of 107.40 in 8 innings. She also scored a brilliant unbeaten half-century at an impressive strike rate of 159.52 for Canterbury lower down the order against Auckland in New Zealand’s Domestic One Day competition. Her tally of runs included 10 boundaries and a maximum.
She has been a leading wicket-taker with the ball in the ODI format for New Zealand with 109 wickets in 92 innings. Her tally of wickets includes three four-wicket hauls and one five-wicket haul. In the T20I format, she is the 2nd highest wicket-taker with 78 wickets to her name at a strike rate of 18.9 and an average of 19.05 in 79 innings.
Gujarat Giants led by regular skipper Beth Mooney will kickstart their campaign in the upcoming 2nd edition against Mumbai Indians on 25th February 2024 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.