Australia captain Meg Lanning and a total of four Aussie players have been included in the Most Valuable Team of Women’s World Cup 2022 revealed by the International Cricket Council on March 4.
ICC has named Lanning as captain of the Upstox Most Valuable Team of the recently concluded tournament. She led Australia to their seventh ODI WC title in the history of the tournament, going undefeated in the 2022 edition. The player was excellent with the bat, scoring 394 runs with one hundred and two fifties.
The Player of the Tournament, Alyssa Healy, also made the team. The 32-year-old became the only woman to breach the 500-run mark in a WC edition and blasted two centuries in the knockout stages, including 170 in the final.
The team was selected by a panel comprising ICC’s Chris Tetley, commentators Nasser Hussain, Lisa Sthalekar and Natalie Germanos, as well as journalists Alok Gupta and Kristy Havill.
Rachael Haynes, who scored 497 runs in the tournament for Australia at the top of the order, has been slotted in at four, with Healy joined by Laura Wolvaardt. The South Africa international scored 433 runs in eight matches, including five half centuries in the competition.
Nat Sciver scored a fighting knock of 148* in the final and amassed 436 runs in the tournament with two hundreds and a fifty. The England all-rounder has been slotted in at no. 5. Beth Mooney is the fourth Aussie player to be part of the team, having scored 330 runs in the tournament at an exceptional average of 110 and strike rate of 100.91.
South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp was the MVP in their terrific World Cup campaign. The all-rounder scored 203 runs and claimed 12 wickets in the tournament, with two PoTM performances. Hayley Matthews is the only West Indian in the team, having played a crucial role in taking the team to the semifinals. She scored 260 runs and picked 10 scalps with the ball.
England’s Sophie Ecclestone picked the most wickets in a single edition of Women’s World Cup since 1982, taking 21 wickets at an average of 15.61.
At no. 10, Shabnim Ismail is the leading seamer in the team. She finished the tournament with 14 wickets at an average of 17.50. Bangladesh’s Salma Khatun takes the last spot in the XI, having snared 10 wickets in seven matches. England’s Charlie Dean was named the 12th player after claiming 11 wickets in the competition.
