ICC Women's Player Shortlist: Smriti, Laura and Gardner Battle for October Honor

The trio were part of their respective team's campaign during the recently concluded ICC Women's World Cup, which India won by defeating South Africa by 52 runs in the final at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

After a relatively quiet start, Smriti Mandhana came into her own with a blistering 80 against Australia, followed by a resolute 88 versus England.

While India lost both these games by a fine margin, it was clear that one of the positives for them going into the must-win encounter against New Zealand was Mandhana’s form. And the batter delivered with a brilliant 109, during which she stitched a match-winning stand of 212 with Pratika Rawal.

Mandhana remained in good touch until the end, providing starts to the side against Bangladesh and Australia.

Laura was the leading run-scorer in the World Cup and scored 470 runs in eight matches during October. She struck three half-centuries and helped win the semifinal against England with a colossal 169 to set up an epic final against hosts India.

India all-rounder Deepti Sharma could not make it to the shortlist despite being the Player of the Tournament at the World Cup because two of her best performances were not in the month of October – 53 and three for 54 in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka and 58 and five for 39 in the final against South Africa.

The off-spinning all-rounder Gardner reached the top three of the ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings in all three lists during the period–for batters, bowlers and all-rounders. She bagged seven wickets and scored 328 runs, the highlight being knocks of 115 against New Zealand and 104 not out against England at the World Cup.

- IANS