Women’s Cricket World Cup: Five players who could be standout stars [opinion]

The Women’s Cricket World Cup gets underway tomorrow, with eight teams set to contest the 12th edition of the tournament.

Matches will be played in the one-day international format and all eight teams will play each other in a round-robin.

After the completion of this stage, the top four teams will battle it out in the semi-finals, before a winner is crowned in the final.

Hosts New Zealand will be joined by defending champions England, title favourites Australia, South Africa and India. Bangladesh, Pakistan and West Indies complete the line-up.

With the tournament just around the corner, GiveMeSport Women picks five players to keep an eye on.

At just 25-years-old, Smriti Mandhana has already been named ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year twice.

Mandhana has four centuries in one-day internationals, and also boasts a strike-rate of 85. She will be key to India’s chances as they aim to finally clinch a World Cup title.

The country has finished as runner-up twice, losing in the final to Australia in 2005 and England in 2017.

Amelia Kerr burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old prodigy in 2018. She became the youngest player – male or female – to score a double century in international cricket, recording an unbeaten 232 in a one-day international against Ireland.

She struggled to hit the same heights in the years following this unprecedented achievement, but looks to be in excellent form heading into the World Cup. The 21-year-old was crucial as New Zealand stunned Australia in a warm-up match this week.

New Zealand have one World Cup title, triumphing in 2000 on home soil. Kerr will surely have a big part to play if history is to repeat itself.

Laura Wolvaardt is just 22-years-old but she is already incredibly experienced on the