5 best women's knocks of 2023 ft. Chamari Athapaththu

2023 was a great year for women's cricket. The inaugural edition of the WPL was held in March. The eighth installment of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup also took place earlier this year, which Australia won.

The year ended with India hosting both England and Australia in a series of matches across formats, including a couple of Test matches. India beat both countries in the longest form of the game within a span of 11 days.

To recap the year, let's take a look at the top five batting performances in women's international cricket:

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#5 Lucia Taylor - 169 runs against Chile in T20I

Lucia Taylor broke the record for the highest individual score in women's T20Is on October 13, 2023. There were a host of big knocks scored by the Argentinean batters in Chile Women's Tour of Argentina, including an unbeaten 155 by Maria Castineiras and an unbeaten 145 by Albertina Galan.

However, the cream of the crop was Lucia Taylor's 169 runs, purely because it is now the highest score by a woman in T20I cricket. She smashed as many as 27 boundaries in her 84-ball knock, as her side posted a total of 427/1. With that being said, it came against a relatively weak opposition, which is why it doesn't rank higher on the list.

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#4 Muneeba Ali - 102 runs against Ireland in T20I

Muneeba Ali scored the only century in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup. Opening the innings for Pakistan, she scored 102 runs in 68 deliveries before being dismissed in the 19th over. Her knock propelled her team to a score of 165/5.

Ireland were bundled up for just 95 runs, seven less than what Muneeba had made alone. This was only the sixth time a player had scored a century in the women's T20 World Cup and the first time a Pakistani batter had achieved the feat.

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#3 Tammy Beaumont - 208 runs against Australia in Test

Tammy Beaumont became only the eighth player to score a double century in women's Test cricket when she smashed 208 runs in the Nottingham Test against Australia in late June. Her knock is also the highest score by an Englishwoman in the format.

Although Beaumont's classy knock featuring 27 boundaries and lasting 498 minutes meant that England trailed Australia by just 10 runs before the start of Australia's second innings, England still lost the Test by 89 runs. Moreover, the fact that Test cricket is not played very often in women's cricket results in this knock ranking third.

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#2 Hayley Matthews - 132 runs against Australia in T20I

Hayley Matthews had a sensational year. She performed brilliantly in the Mumbai Indians' WPL-winning campaign after initially going unsold in the auction. She also did very well on the international circuit, the highlight of which was her 132-run knock against Australia at the North Sydney Oval.

Australia scored 212/6 in the first innings, which is a massive score in T20Is. Matthews led from the front and hit 20 boundaries and five sixes to register a huge win for the West Indies. She also picked up three wickets in the first innings, capping off one of the all-time great performances in women's cricket.

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#1 Chamari Athapaththu - 140* against New Zealand in ODI

Chamari Athapaththu played an innings of a lifetime against New Zealand in early July this year. Chasing 196 in 31 overs, Athapuththu scored a sumptuous 140 not-out off just 80 balls. Scored at a strike rate of 175, her knock was decorated with 13 boundaries and nine sixes.

The fact that Chamari Athapaththu scored runs at a strike rate more than double that of any other batter in that match makes this performance even more glorious. The 33-year-old scored almost 75% of her team's total. Despite such displays, Athapaththu went unsold at the WPL auction held earlier this month.