ICC Women’s World Cup 2017: 5 emerging players from the tournament 

The 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup came to a close with England emerging as the winners. They defeated India in a cliffhanger of a contest and lifted the World Cup for the fourth occasion. India were on the brink of victory after which things fell apart for the Women in Blue.

The tournament garnered the highest viewership among all Women’s Cricket World Cups and turned out to be a grand success. In the field of play, while the veterans lived up to their expectations, some of the cricketers made a name for themselves with consistent performances.

In our article, we take a look at five emerging cricketers from the tournament.

---

#5 Beth Mooney- Australia (23 years)

Beth Mooney has been pretty consistent for Australia at the top of the order. At the age of 23, with some resolute batting, she has impressed one and all.

Australia played exceptionally well during the group stages and Mooney played her part by taking Australia off to decent starts on many occasions. An average of 29 in eight games might not look impressive, but with 232 runs, she shielded Australia from losing early wickets.

With scores of 70, 32, 31, 45 and 53 in the World Cup, she handled the new ball to good effect. Mooney is still new to international cricket, but she displayed enough potential to make it count as her career progresses.

#4 Hayley Matthews- West Indies (19 years)

Hayley Matthews promises to be bright prospect for Caribbean cricket

West Indies had a forgettable campaign in the Women’s World Cup with just a couple of wins in the league stage against lower ranked Pakistan and Sri Lanka. At no point of the tournament did they look like challenging oppositions and somehow couldn’t find any momentum during their seven games.

However, there was a silver lining for the Caribbean women in the name of Hayley Matthews. At the age of 19, she has already made a name for herself in international cricket. She is a bright prospect for the West Indies with both bat and ball.

Though she could garner only 158 runs in seven games, she looked solid with her technique. Her top scores of 46 and 43 in the tournament came against Australia and India. She is also no mug with her off-breaks.

#3 Deepti Sharma- India (19 years)

Deepti Sharma has impressed with both ball and willow

Deepti Sharma is one of the very few cricketers who have all sorts of shots in their repertoire. While she can put her head down to build a partnership, she can also accelerate when her team needs quick runs.

Her ability with the willow caught eyes during her knocks against Sri Lanka and South Africa when she piled on gutsy half centuries. For a 19-year-old, she has manifested tremendous maturity and temperament.

With the ball, her off breaks have disturbed the best in the business. With 12 wickets in nine games, she turned out to be India’s top wicket taker in the tournament.

Her best figures came in India’s opening game against England when she picked up 3 wickets for 47 runs.

#2 Smriti Mandhana- India (21 years)

Smriti Mandhana has shown aggressive approach in her batting

Lately, Smriti Mandhana has been struggling to find some form and hasn’t been on top of her game. However, she showed exemplary potential with the willow earlier in the tournament when she racked up scores of 90 and 106* against England and West Indies.

She doesn’t like to get bogged down and prefers to take the attack to the opposition bowlers with her free-flowing strokes. With loads of potential to work on, the left-handed batswoman has a bright future in the offing.

She was also the second Indian cricketer, after Harmanpreet Kaur, to play overseas franchise T20 cricket. Mandhana is young, exuberant and she can only get better from here on.

#1 Amelia Kerr- New Zealand (16 years)

Amelia Kerr has a bright future ahead of her

At the age of 16, Amelie Kerr is undoubtedly a player to look out for in the future. She made her One Day International debut against Pakistan Women in November 2016. However, recently in the Women’s World Cup, she has taken rapid strides in the sport with her wily leg-breaks.

New Zealand crashed out of the tournament after a humiliating loss in a virtual quarter-final against India. Nevertheless, the White Ferns can take home Kerr’s brilliant performances as a positive from the event.

She churned out 10 wickets in 6 games at a frugal economy of 4.48 rpo that included wickets of the likes of Tammy Beaumont, Meg Lanning and Natalie Sciver. Provided she stays consistent, she can turn out to be a spearhead of the White Ferns bowling line-up in the future.