Nadine de Klerk demonstrated icy-cool demeanour under pressure and shepherded South Africa to a three-wicket win over Bangladesh in a thrilling Women's World Cup match, in Visakhapatnam.
Frustrating to lose wickets to part-timer; SA are doing right to make three finals: Wolvaardt
Shafali Verma (44) and Jess Jonassen's (61 not out) fireworks underlined Delhi Capitals' complete domination as they crushed Gujarat Giants by six wickets.
Having retained the majority of their squad, MI will be the team to beat given their formidable batting, but Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals will be out to spoil their party.
Star opener Smriti Mandhana, wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh and all-rounder Deepti Sharma were on Saturday named in the ICC Women's T20I Team of Year 2024.
Deepti jumps two places to 5th, Mandhana continues to hold top spot in ODI rankings
Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma guided India to a historic 52-run victory over South Africa which saw the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 hosts lift the trophy for the first time.
South Africa boosted their hopes of reaching the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals with a convincing 80-run victory over Scotland in Dubai.
Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning and Harmanpreet Kaur were some of the big names retained by their respective franchises for the next edition of the Women's Premier League.
Shafali Verma turned doubt into destiny as India lifted their first-ever Women's World Cup title.
The Proteas began on a convincing note with the bat and remained safe at 29 for no loss at the lunch break.
The victorous Indian team sung a new victory anthem to celebrate winning their first World Cup.
The inaugural edition's winner Mumbai Indians will bank on their core group of players while two-time finalists Delhi Capitals will expect fireworks from Shafali Verma when they face-off in the second game of the Women's Premier League here on Saturday. The finalists of the first WPL in 2023, both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals made it to the knockouts in the second edition last year but lost to the eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the eliminator and the final respectively. Those defeats were certainly not reflective of how well MI and DC had fared until the knockouts stage, with Harmanpreet Kaur's side finishing second in the points table with five wins in eight matches and Meg Lanning's team topping it with six wins in as many outings. The winners of WPL 2023, Mumbai Indians tend to lean on their core group of players both overseas and Indian and a similar approach can be expected this year, with only a few changes taking place in terms of squad composition. India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup recently. Mumbai Indians have let go of England's Issy Wong, who took the first-ever WPL hat-trick in 2023, after the player lost form and the franchise found the leader of their attack in South Africa's Shabnim Ismail. Among domestic talents, another member of the U-19 T20 World Cup winning squad G Kamalini would be one to watch out for, having finished as the third highest scorer in the competition with 143 runs in seven matches. Apart from a strong leader in Harmanpreet, MI have strong figures from other international sides such as Nat Sciver-Brunt (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), as well as South Africans Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon. While Yastika Bhatia is MI's No 1 wicketkeeper-batter, other Indian players in Saika Ishaque, Sajana Sajeevan, uncapped Akshita Maheshwari and Amanjot Kaur will be expected to play their roles to perfection. On their part, Delhi Capitals will be keen to do one better after finishing as runner-up for two times in a row ever since the competition began. One of the most consistent teams in the competition, the Lanning-led Delhi have strong talent base across departments but the key will be to deliver in crucial matches. All eyes will be on the explosive Indian batter Shafali who has responded to her exclusion from the Indian side with runs in domestic cricket. She forms a lethal opening pair with Lanning at the top, while the likes of Australia's Annabel Sutherland, England's Alice Capsey and India's Jemimah Rodrigues form the core of their middle order. All-rounder Sutherland will hope to draw inspiration from her recent success of having struck 163 in the only Test of the women's Ashes followed by winning the highest individual honour in Australian cricket. While Delhi boasts of three wicketkeeper-batters in India's Taniyaa Bhatia, Nandini Kashyap and Scotland's Sarah Bryce, their bowling looks settled with Marizanne Kapp as the leader of the attack, backed by Australia's Jess Jonassen, India's Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey as well as Titas Sadhu.
India opener Smriti Mandhana has climbed to the second spot in the latest ICC women's ODI batting rankings following a stellar series against Ireland.
IMAGES from the WPL match played between Delhi Capitals Women and UP Warriorz in Bengaluru on Monday.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will be playing an ODI World Cup final for the third time, having finished runners-up in 2005 and 2017 to Australia and England, respectively. This will be South Africa's maiden appearance in the final.
While Mumbai Indians lay their hands on the inaugural WPL trophy, the season threw up a lot of standout performances.
Vastarkar was the big mover up the ODI charts for all-rounders, with the 24-year-old gaining four places to improve to 18th.
Delhi Capitals secured direct qualification into the final of the WPL 2024 with a seven-wicket hammering of Gujarat Giants.
Delhi Capitals will be aiming to claim the top spot, while UP Warriorz will be desperate to register their first victory of the season when the two sides face off in the Women's Premier League in Bengaluru on Saturday.
An ecstatic Mumbai Indians skipper Harmanpreet Kaur credited her bowlers for robustly defending a modest target of 150 in the WPL 2025 final against Delhi Capitals.
Lanning has led DC from the front, scoring 308 runs from eight innings, while South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp and Australian left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen are the highest wicket-takers for the side with 11 scalps each.
A resolute South Africa came up with a clinical performance to shock mighty Australia by eight wickets and enter the final of the Women's T20 World Cup in Dubai on Thursday.
Gujarat Giants, on the other hand, have been heavily reliant on Australian all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner, who has been their standout performer.
Mandhana 136 (120b, 18x4, 2x6) and Harmanpreet 103 not out (88b, 9x4, 3x6) ran roughshod over the Proteas bowlers after being asked to bat first.
Dropped catches and batters' lack of intent in the middle overs cost India dear, remarked skipper Harmanpreet Kaur as South Africa secured their first win on their multi-format tour with a 12-run victory in the first women's T20I in Chennai on Friday.
Australia have now made it to the semi-finals of the global T20 tournament in all its nine editions held so far since 2009 in England.
Women's T20 World Cup set for first-time champion as New Zealand-South Africa clash in final
Wolvaardt and Luus joined forces to push the hosts on the backfoot.
Delhi Capitals will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Women's Premier League (WPL) opener in Mumbai on Sunday.
West Indies' Chinelle Henry smashed a 23-ball 62, including eight sixes and two fours, to equal the record for the fastest fifty in the Women's Premier League.
India inflicted a crushing 10-wicket defeat on South Africa in the one-off Women's Test in Chennai
Powered by the all-round brilliance of Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews, Mumbai Indians head into the Women's Premier League final as favorites to claim their second title, while Delhi Capitals hope to break their title jinx in what promises to be a thrilling showdown in Mumbai on Saturday.
IMAGES from the Women's Premier League match played between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals in Navi Mumbai on Monday.
struck 105 in the final match of the series against Australia in Perth and 54 in the first game of the ongoing T20I rubber against the West Indies in Mumbai to headline the latest rankings
Smriti Mandhana dropped a rung to fourth spot, while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur jumped two places to ninth position in the ICC Women's ODI batting rankings.
Shafali Verma and Jess Jonassen smashed half-centuries as Delhi Capitals handed Royal Challengers Bengaluru a fourth consecutive defeat with a commanding nine-wicket win.
IMAGES from the Women's T20 World Cup 2nd semi-final between South Africa and England in Cape Town on Friday.
The second Women's T20I between India and South Africa in Chennai was called off due to rain after South Africa set a challenging target of 177 for 6.
The all-star team announced by the ICC features four players from Sri Lanka, three each from Pakistan and Afghanistan and one from the West Indies.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances