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An Indian superstar, two sensational world-class all-rounders from Australia and South Africa, respectively and one of the backbones of England's unbeaten run have been announced as the contenders for the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 'Player of the Tournament' award.
England will take on arch-rivals Australia in the title clash at Lord's on Sunday, with the Aussies eyeing their seventh title, and England will be aiming to lift their second title, which will be even more special as they have a chance to do it on their home soil at a venue considered the 'Home of Cricket'. Here are the standout performers who have been announced as 'Player of the Tournament' contenders: -Ellyse Perry (Australia)185 runs @ 46.25Four wickets @ 7.50 Perry has been a standout during Australia's unbeaten run to the final, with the talented all-rounder collecting three Player of the Match awards along the way. She is the fifth-highest run-getter with a strike rate of 135.03. The first of those came against Bangladesh in Leeds when Perry collected two key wickets and added an unbeaten 19* to ensure the Aussies registered a comfortable nine-wicket victory. Perry then picked up back-to-back Player of the Match awards against Pakistan and India on the back of consecutive half-centuries, ensuring Australia entered the title decider with their unbeaten run intact. These two half-centuries marked her first two in the tournament ever. -Smriti Mandhana (India)205 runs @ 41 Mandhana started the T20 World Cup in superb fashion, with the left-hander scoring consecutive half-centuries to help India prevail in victories over Pakistan and the Netherlands, as per the ICC. The 29-year-old also added a valuable innings of 38 at the top of the order in India's final group match against Australia, though it was not quite enough to help the side qualify for the semi-finals. She is currently the fourth-highest run-getter, batting with a strike rate of 140.41. -Danni Wyatt-Hodge (England)294 runs @ 73.5 Wyatt-Hodge set the T20 World Cup alight with a magnificent century against Sri Lanka in the tournament opener in Birmingham and then peeled off another two half-centuries to be the leading run-scorer at the event. The 35-year-old has provided England with fast starts too during their unbeaten run into the final, with Wyatt-Hodge's runs coming at a good strike rate of 152.33, which sits just outside the top 10 at the entire tournament. Her runs have come at a strike rate of 152.33, consisting of 41 fours and two sixes. -Marizanne Kapp (South Africa)124 runs @ 31Eight wickets @ 14.37 Kapp made valuable contributions during South Africa's run to the knockout stages, which ended in a loss to England, and none more so than against India when she collected the Player of the Match award. The all-rounder picked up two valuable wickets with the ball before guiding the Proteas' run chase home with an excellent innings of 81* that put South Africa in the box seat for semi-final qualification. Kapp registered a wicket in every one of South Africa's fixtures at the tournament apart from the game against the Netherlands in Bristol, highlighting the consistency of the 36-year-old in all facets of the game. (ANI)
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