Mandhana nominated for ICC Player of the Month for October:Wolvaardt, Gardner to compete; Indian vice-captain top-scored for team in ODI World Cup

Smriti Mandhana, who scored the most runs for India in the Women’s ODI World Cup, has been nominated for the ICC’s Best Player of the Month. The 29-year-old Mandhana scored 434 runs in the tournament that concluded on November 2. With the help of her performance, the Indian team defeated South Africa by 52 runs to become World Champions for the first time. In the nominations for the month of October, apart from Indian vice-captain Mandhana, South African captain Laura Wolvaardt and Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner are also included. Mandhana scored runs at crucial moments Mandhana led the Indian batting in the top order. She formed several opening partnerships with Pratika Rawal in the World Cup. Mandhana played an aggressive innings of 80 runs against 7-time champions Australia and then 88 runs against England. However, the Indian team lost both these matches. Mandhana played an innings of 109 runs in a do-or-die match against New Zealand. She formed a match-winning partnership of 212 runs with Pratika. Mandhana gave the team a good start by scoring 45 runs in the final against South Africa and formed a century partnership with Shafali Verma. Wolvaardt led South Africa to the final South Africa’s captain, Wolvaardt, rescued the team from a humiliating 10-wicket defeat against England in the tournament’s first match and led them to the final. Wolvaardt played a crucial role by scoring 70 runs against India in the league stage. Wolvaardt scored half-centuries against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which helped the team reach the knock-out stage. In the semi-final against England, Wolvaardt played one of the best innings in Cricket World Cup history, scoring 169 runs. Wolvaardt also scored a century of 101 runs in the final, but her team lost. Gardner delivered an all-round performance Australia’s Gardner made outstanding contributions in almost every match. She scored centuries during victories against New Zealand (115) and England (104 not out). She also took seven wickets, demonstrating her usefulness in bowling.