Alison Mitchell’s Team of the Tournament sees Meg Lanning named as captain

Prior to the final at the Home of Cricket, Alison Mitchell picks her star-studded team of the tournament…

With the Women’s World Cup final upon us, it’s time to pick my team of the tournament. At the time of writing, the semi-finals hadn’t been played, so this is a team based on performances in the group stage, with every team having played each other once – save for New Zealand v South Africa, which was a washout. Rather than just take the best performers, I’m also looking to form a balanced side that could play a world XI match.

Openers

No one scored more runs than England’s Tammy Beaumont in the group stage. Despite a slow start in the first three games, she topped the run-scoring chart with 373 runs from seven matches, including 148 versus South Africa when she shared a record-breaking stand with Sarah Taylor.

Her 49 against Australia was the side’s top score and a vital knock to anchor the innings, which ultimately helped them beat the defending champions. Another big half century came with 92 in the victory over New Zealand, as she and Nat Sciver added 170 in 27 overs after a top-order wobble.

It is a little harder to pick Beaumont’s opening partner. Nicole Bolton of Australia comes close with an unbeaten 107 against the West Indies and two half centuries (plus her propensity for saving runs on the boundary). Smriti Mandhana’s form for Indian unfortunately fell away after her early hundred, and whilst compatriot Punam Raut scored a century against the defending champions Australia, as well as 86 in the victory over England, there has been something more formidable about seeing South Africa’s Lizelle Lee walk out to bat during this tournament.

Lee has been tremendous for her country with three half centuries, including 72 against England and 92 off 65 balls in what was a significant victory over India to help get them into the semi-finals. She has hit 12 of South Africa’s 20 sixes, and so joins Beaumont in the team.

Middle-order

Too many of the tournament’s best players occupy the middle-order, so a couple of quality players have to miss out here. My picks are Australia’s Meg Lanning at three (also captaining), England’s Sarah Taylor at four (also keeping wicket), Australia’s Ellyse Perry at five and Nat Sciver of England at six.

Lanning has had to manage a chronic shoulder injury throughout the tournament and has been rested from two matches, yet she still scored 328 runs, averaging 109.33, in the group stage. Even with heavy shoulder strapping and obvious discomfort, she finds a way, and remains a class above the rest. Her unbeaten 152 against Sri Lanka was a bloody-minded yet composed riposte to Chamari Atapattu scoring an exceptional 178, the third highest score in ODI history and the highest ever innings against the Aussies. Lanning was also player of the match against India, securing Australia their semi-final berth.

Taylor hasn’t been the most consistent with the bat, but remains a class act behind the stumps and made her mark on the tournament with a block-busting 147 off 104 balls against South Africa, building on her unbeaten 74 against Sri Lanka, which got England’s campaign back on track after defeat to India. India’s Sushma Verma leads the way in the number of stumpings during the tournament, but if a keeper-bat is desired, Taylor wins out with 297 runs at an average of nearly 50, and she still has the quickest hands in the game.

Perry makes the team on the back of five consecutive 50s, making her the second highest run-scorer in the competition after the group phase. She will also open the bowling in my team and has taken nine wickets. Her radar hasn’t always been on-song over the last fortnight, but when she has picked up wickets she has usually snaffled one in the top-order. Her consistent batting, however, makes her indispensable.

Sciver is the easiest pick as an all-rounder, having been the star of the tournament with two big hundreds and an enviable strike rate of 117.75 for her 315 runs. She faced stronger bowling attacks than Pakistan, against whom she smashed 137 off 92 balls; one of those better attacks was New Zealand, against whom she smoked 129 from 111 deliveries. Plus, who doesn’t want a batter who can play a  ‘Natmeg’ between the legs?

The choice of these four – and it pains me to say it – means no room for England captain Heather Knight, nor India skipper Mithali Raj in the top six, both of whom have scored match-winning hundreds on the way to guiding their teams to the semi-finals. Knight averages 55.5 and has also played a significant role with the ball. She took at least one wicket every time she brought herself on, and seven in all.

Her biggest scores, however, both came against the two weakest teams. In a choice between the two captains, Lanning pips it, having scored 328 in two fewer matches than Knight’s 333, coupled with a superior strike rate of 94.25 compared to Knight’s 85.6. A close-run thing.

Raj’s most impressive innings was her century against New Zealand in a pressurised, knock-out situation, and it was scored at  a rate befitting modern-day ODIs. However she has scored too slowly in other situations to get the nod, particularly against Australia when her innings chewed up too many dot balls and was ultimately costly. Her captaincy, particularly against the lower-ranked teams, lacked killer instinct at times when it came to bowling sides out, so for me, despite her class and her passing Charlotte Edwards’ record to become the world’s leading ODI run-scorer at this event, she doesn’t quite make the eleven.

Bowlers

Two South Africa all-rounders form a key part of the attack, along with Perry and Sciver. The South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk has been outstanding with her leg-spin, taking 15 wickets in six matches, more than anyone else in the tournament, and at an average of 8.33. She also has an economy rate of 3.26, better than anyone who has played more than two games. Fast bowler Marizanne Kapp is only just behind her in the wickets column, with 12 from six matches. She opens the bowling in this side. Three more spinners make up the bowling attack, reflecting the significance of slow bowling throughout the tournament.

India’s Deepti Sharma would normally bat in the top-order, but with those positions taken, it’s her nine wickets with off-spin which sees her slot in at number seven, coupled with her dynamic fielding. She’s then joined by two further leg-spinners in Kristen Beams, who has been both accurate and attacking for Australia (11 wickets in six matches and an economy rate of 3.8) and India’s pocket-rocket Poonam Yadav, who has shown great control, bowling particularly miserly spells to Sri Lanka, West Indies and Pakistan, and picking up important wickets with both her looping leg-breaks and the googly. Her economy rate of 3.45 is second only to van Niekerk for those who have played more than two matches.

Left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen is unlucky to miss out, having dismissed a number of top-order batters opening the bowling for Australia, not least in the game against New Zealand.

*This article originally featured in TCP on 21 July 2017.