The 8th edition of Women’s T20 World Cup concluded on 26th February, with Australia winning their 6th and third consecutive title.
Big names delivered on the grandest stage in South Africa, with the host side reaching the final historically and many of the world’s best players impressing.
But it wasn’t just the established world stars who made a splash in South Africa.
ICC has named five breakout stars of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023. ICC included Bangladesh’s 18-year-old Marufa Akter, calling her “one of the quickest bowlers on show”.
Five breakout stars of Women’s T20 World Cup 2023
Marufa Akter – Bangladesh
One of the stars of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup back in January, Marufa showed that she is capable of making a similar impact at senior level with a string of excellent performances.
ICC called the young Bangladesh pacer, “One of the quickest bowlers on show”. She was a constant wicket-taking threat in the early Powerplay overs and added a spark up-front to Bangladesh’s attack.
Still just 18 years old, Marufa’s talent is hugely exciting.
Orla Prendergast – Ireland
Ireland’s 20-year-old all-rounder stood out in the team’s campaign in South Africa to such an extent that she was recognised in the ICC Team of the Tournament.
The young Irish all-rounder scored 109 runs including an outstanding 61 against West Indies, was excellent in the field, and played a crucial role with the ball as Ireland’s main strike pace bowler.
Moreover, ICC emphasized on Prendergast’s three wickets in the tournament were Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, and Sophia Dunkley, which were not a bad set of scalps.
Muneeba Ali – Pakistan
Pakistan’s bespectacled batter Muneeba Ali has a lot of international experience under her belt in the T20 format, but announced herself as a top-level player at this tournament.
Muneeba’s brilliant century against Ireland saw her make good on her obvious talent, and it will be fascinating to see what the future holds for such a skilled batter.
Also read: Muneeba Ali Makes History with First Women’s Century in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup
The head cricket board stated that her knock of 102 was the World Cup’s highest individual score, but she will have been disappointed not to have built on that, suffering two low scores in her final two tournament appearances.
Harshitha Samarawickrama – Sri Lanka
Some of the weight will have been lifted off the shoulders of Chamari Athapaththu thanks to the performances of her younger opening partner at this tournament
Faced with chasing down 127 against Bangladesh to make it two wins from two in Group 1, the Lankans lost three in the Powerplay as Marufa ripped through the top order. But Samarawickrama survived, built the platform for the successful chase, and then accelerated to help relieve the pressure of a rising required run rate.
Further ICC emphasized how young Samarawickrama stood up when her team needed her in what was, at the time, a massive match for Sri Lanka.
Karishma Ramharack – West Indies
West Indies have a really useful player on their hands in right-arm off-spinner Ramharack.
The 28-year-old is relatively inexperienced at international level, but already looks a lock in the first-choice bowling attack for the West Indies, keeping things extremely tight and offering a decent threat with her clever spin bowling.
She took five wickets in the tournament at an average of 10, but it was how tough she was to score off that helped Ramharack stand apart. Of front-line bowlers, only Sophie Ecclestone had a superior economy rate over the course of the tournament.
Moreover, her quality performance earned her a place in the ICC Team of the Tournament.
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