It has been a fantabulous year in the T20I format in the women’s game. We witnessed multiple upsets and standout performances, with the bat as well as with the ball for their respective teams, throughout the course of the year. A new winner being crowned as the champion of the 9th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, played in the United Arab Emirates, and hosted by Bangladesh, was a remarkable moment. In this article, let’s look at who makes it to Female Cricket’s T20I Team of the Year 2024.
Female Cricket’s T20I Team of the Year 2024:
Smriti Mandhana (India):
The vice-captain of the Indian team Smriti Mandhana has had a breakthrough year in the T20I format as she ends the year as the leading run-scorer in the format with 763 runs at a good strike rate of 126.53 and a sensational average of 42.38 in 21 innings for her side in the format. She will open the innings in our T20I Team of the Year 2024. Her tally of runs includes 8 half-centuries in the format. Her best performance with the bat for her side in the format this year came on 19th December 2024 in the 3rd T20I against the West Indies. She scored a vital half-century (77 off 47 balls) for her side in the series decider and was also awarded the Player of the Series for scoring 193 runs in three innings.
Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa):
The 25-year-old South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt will open the innings alongside Smriti Mandhana in our line-up. Wolvaardt also had an amazing year with the bat, as she ended the year as the leading run-scorer for her side and overall, the 4th highest run-scorer with 673 runs at a good strike rate of 125.09 and a sensational average of 39.58 in 19 innings this year. Her tally of runs includes three half-centuries and a century.
Her best performance with the bat for her side in the format this year came on 27th March 2024 in the 1st T20I against Sri Lanka when she scored a breezy century (102 off 63 balls) at Willowmoore Park, Benoni, it was also her maiden ton in the T20I format. Notably, Wolvaardt was the leading run-scorer, with 223 runs at a strike rate of 113.19 and a mind-boggling average of 44.60, in 6 innings in the 9th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the UAE, hosted by Bangladesh. Her tally of runs included one unbeaten half-century (59* off 55 balls) against the West Indies on 4th October 2024 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka):
The 34-year-old Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu will come in at number 3 in our line-up. She also had a brilliant year with the bat as she was the leading run-scorer for her side and the 2nd highest in the format this year, with 720 runs at a strike rate of 126.76 and an impressive average of 40 in 21 innings with the bat for her side. Her tally of runs includes 4 half-centuries and a couple of centuries in the format this year. Her best performance with the bat for her side this year in the format came on 22nd July 2024 against Malaysia in the 7th match of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 when she scored a mind-boggling unbeaten century (119* off 69 balls) at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. She was also awarded the Player of the Match for her sensational match-winning performance with the bat for her side.
Apart from her exploits with the bat, she was also the 2nd highest wicket-taker with the ball with 21 wickets at an impressive average of 16.80 and an economy of 6.36 in 20 innings for her side this year. Her tally of wickets in the format this year included one four-wicket haul on 24th June 2024 against the West Indies when she returned with impressive match figures of 4-0-29-4 in the 1st T20I at Hambantota.
Melie Kerr (New Zealand):
The young 24-year-old all-rounder from New Zealand Melie Kerr played a pivotal role in helping the White Ferns clinch their maiden ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title. She was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 15 wickets at a sensational average of 7.33 and an economy of 4.85 in 6 innings with the ball for her side in the tournament. Her best performance with the ball in the tournament came on 8th October 2024, against Australia when she returned with impressive match figures of 4-0-26-4 in her spell at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. She was also the 3rd highest run-scorer for her side in the tournament with 135 runs at a decent average of 27 in 6 innings with the bat for her side in the tournament and was named the Player of the Tournament courtesy of her vital all-round contributions to her side in the tournament. Kerr also became the first female cricketer to be awarded the Player of the Match in the final and also named the Player of the Tournament in the same edition (43 off 38 balls with the bat and, (4-0-24-3) with the ball).
Kerr has also been the leading wicket-taker for New Zealand in the T20I format this year with 29 wickets at an impressive average of 15.55 and an economy of 6.81 in 18 innings this year. Her tally of wickets in the format includes a couple of four-wicket hauls in the format. Her best performance with the ball for her side in the format this year came on 22nd September 2024 against Australia when she returned with brilliant match figures of 4-0-20-4 in the 2nd T20I at Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay. Besides her exploits with the ball, she has also scored 387 runs at a strike rate of 103.75 and an impressive average of 24.18 in 18 innings, with the highest of unbeaten 44* (35 balls) against England on 24th March 2024.
Orla Prendergast (Ireland):
The young 22-year-old all-rounder from Ireland had a very impressive year and was one of the stand-out performers with the bat for her side in the T20I format this year. She’ll come in at number five in our line-up of the year. She was the 2nd highest run-scorer for her side with 544 runs, and also broke into the top 10 run-scorers in the T20I format this year. Her runs have come at an impressive strike rate of 123.63 and a sensational average of 36.26 in 18 innings with the bat for her side. Her tally of runs includes three half-centuries this year. Her best performance with the bat for her side in the format this year came on 15th September 2024 against England in the 2nd T20I when she scored a cracking half-century (80 off 51 balls) for her side. She was also awarded the Player of the Match for her all-round brilliance that guided her side to a famous victory against England.
Besides her contributions with the bat, she was also the leading wicket-taker with the ball for her side in the format with 21 wickets at a sensational average of 12.90 and an economy of 6.80 in 12 innings with the ball for her side in the format this year. Her tally of wickets includes one four-wicket haul on 9th December 2024 in the 3rd T20I against Bangladesh when she returned with impressive, career-best figures of 4-0-22-4 with the ball for her side at the Sylhet Stadium. She was also awarded the Player of the Series for scoring 54 runs and picking up 10 wickets in three innings for her side in the series playing a crucial role for her side in inflicting a dominating Whitewash in the T20I series against the hosts, Bangladesh.
Richa Ghosh (India):
The 21-year-old young wicket-keeper batter from India, Richa Ghosh will come in at number 6 in our T20I line-up of the Year 2024. She is the 4th highest run-scorer for India in the format this year with 365 runs at a sensational strike rate of 156.65 and an average of 33.18 in 16 innings with the bat for her side. Her tally of runs includes a couple of half-centuries and her best performance with the bat for her side in the format this year came on 21st July 2024 against UAE in the 5th match of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 when she scored a swashbuckling, unbeaten half-century (64* off 29 balls) at Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium. She was also awarded the Player of the Match for her match-winning innings with the bat for her side. Notably, she also scored the fastest fifty by an Indian in a Women’s T20I only recently, against West Indies.
Marizanne Kapp (South Africa):
The 34-year-old veteran South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp will come in at number 7 in our T20I line-up of the year. She had an impressive year, especially with the bat, as she finished as the 4th-highest run-scorer for South Africa with 399 runs at a sensational strike rate of 140.98 and an impressive average of 30.69 in 14 innings this year in the format for her side. Her tally of runs includes three half-centuries with a high score of 75 (48 balls) against Australia on 30th January 2024 in the 3rd T20I at the Bellerive Oval, Hobart. However, South Africa ended up on the losing side by 5 wickets in that game.
Besides her exploits with the bat, she also picked up 11 wickets at an average of 23.63 and an impressive economy of 5.30 in 14 innings with the ball for her side this year. Her best performance with the ball for her side in the format this year came on 4th October 2024 against the West Indies in the 3rd match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 where she returned with exceptional match figures of 4-0-14-2 in her spell at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Annabel Sutherland (Australia):
The young 23-year-old all-rounder from Australia, Annabel Sutherland’s stocks have increased considerably, especially with the ball in hand in the T20I format. She will come in at number 8 in our line-up of the year. She has picked up 19 wickets at an average of 16.36 and an economy of 5.57 in 17 innings with the ball for her side in the T20I format for her side this year. Her best performance with the ball for her side in the format this year came on 8th October 2024 against New Zealand in the 10th match of the 9th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. She returned with impressive match figures of 4-0-21-3 in her spell at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Besides her improved showing with the ball in hand in the format this year, she has hardly had any opportunity to display her batting prowess in the T20I format this year. She scored 36 runs at a decent strike rate of 128.57 in 6 innings with the bat for her side in the format this year.
Sophie Ecclestone (England):
The young 25-year-old left-arm spinner from England, Sophie Ecclestone continued her dominance in the T20I format with the ball as she was the 2nd highest wicket-taker with the ball for England with 24 wickets at a sensational average of 14.87 and an impressive economy of 5.59 in 17 innings for her side this year in the format. She will come in at number 9 in our line-up of the year. Her tally of wickets includes one four-wicket haul against New Zealand on 11th July 2024 when she returned with impressive match figures of 4-0-25-4 in her spell in the 3rd T20I at St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury.
Alongside her exploits with the ball, she also scored 57 runs at a swash-buckling strike rate of 178.12 and an impressive average of 28.50 in 8 innings with the bat for her side in the format this year.
Renuka Singh Thakur (India):
The 28-year-old pacer from India Renuka Singh Thakur had an impressive year as she ended the year as the 4th-highest wicket-taker for India in the format with 20 wickets to her name at a decent average of 22.90 and an economy of 6.27 in 19 innings with the ball. Her best performance with the ball for her side in the format this year came on 26th July 2024 against Bangladesh in the 1st semi-final of the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024, when she returned with exceptional match figures of 4-1-10-3 in her spell in the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. She’ll be coming in at number 10 in our line-up of the year 2024.
Sadia Iqbal (Pakistan):
The veteran 29-year-old left-arm spinner from Pakistan, Sadia Iqbal will be our number 11 in our T20I team of the year. Iqbal had a sensational year with the ball as she was the leading wicket-taker for Pakistan. She is also the joint-highest wicket-taker with the ball alongside India’s Deepti Sharma in terms of ICC full-member nations with 30 wickets at a sensational average of 14.30 and an economy of 5.86 in 19 innings for her side. Her tally of wickets includes one four-wicket haul on 26th July 2024, against Sri Lanka, when she returned with impressive match figures of 4-0-16-4 in her spell at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, which also happens to be her career-best spell in the T20I format to date. Her spell came in the 2nd semi-final of the ACC Women’s Asia Cup 2024. However, she ended up on the losing side by 3 wickets with one ball to spare.
Loves all things female cricket
