The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the shortlist for the Women’s T20I player of the ongoing year 2024. The sensational captain of the Sri Lanka side, along with the World Cup-winning member of the New Zealand, has also cut.
The list of the ICC award starts with the opening batter of Sri Lanka, Chamari Athapaththu, who managed to grill 720 runs in 21 T20Is this year at the highest score of unbeaten 119 runs, besides picking up 21 wickets at an average of 16.8 and a best bowling figure of 4/29 in an innings.
She didn’t contribute much with the bat in the recent ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, but still ends the year as the second leading run-getter in a calendar year of WT20Is, shouldering on two centuries and four half-centuries, smashing 86 boundaries and 32 over boundaries. The most memorable moment for her was the 61-run knock against India to earn their maiden Asia Cup in Dambulla.
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The second on the list of awards is the spin all-rounder from New Zealand, Melie Kerr, who won the T20 World Cup this year for the White Ferns. She made the national record for most women’s T20I wickets in a year with 29 scalps at an average of under 16, while she also cracked five scores of 40+ to have a key role for the New Zealand side in their top order.
No Indian player in the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year award
Kerr drilled 387 runs in 18 WT20Is this year at an average of 24.18 and the highest score of an unbeaten 44 runs. In the successful tile-winning campaign, she bashed 135 runs and picked up 15 wickets, most in an ICC Women’s T20 WC. The best moment for her in the year of the shortest format was when he soaked the pressure with a knock of 43 runs during the final of the WC against South Africa in Dubai, where they chased down the score of 158.
The leg spinner also got rid of the SA captain, Laura Wolvaardt, and Anneke Bosch, the stars of the side, and sealed the game for the Kiwis to finish with the figures of 3/24 to win the Player of the Match award.
The captain of the Proteas, Laura Wolvaardt, is third on the list of ICC awards with 673 runs in 19 games at an average of 39.58 and the best score of 102. She assumed the leadership late in 2022 and was impressed with the runs against Australia and Sri Lanka. She continued her dominance in the T20 World Cup as the opener was the leading run-getter of the event.
The most memorable moment for him came during the ICC T20 World Cup semifinal against Australia in 2024, where she guided the side to a stunning victory. The foundation was set in Canberra, where the Rainbow Nation beat the Aussies for the first time in a WT20I, where he anchored their chase of 143 runs and carried them home with an unbeaten 58-run knock.
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The final name on the list is Orla Prendergast from Ireland, who smashed 544 WT20I runs at an average of 36.36 and the best score of 80 in 2024, besides collecting 21 wickets at an average of 12.9. He ends the year as the highest wicket-taker and run-getter for Ireland in a calendar year.
The most memorable performance for her was when he got 2/31 in the allotted four over against England at home before smashing a career-best knock of 80 runs in 51 runs, thanks to 13 boundaries to seal the 170-run chase in the last over.