Hobart Hurricanes rope in India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana for WBBL 4

Smriti Mandhana, who had a decent outing in the Women’s World T20 in the Caribbeans recently, has been signed by Hobart Hurricanes for the fourth edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) starting December 1. The Hurricanes will take on Perth Scorchers in an away encounter on the opening day of the tournament. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who signed a two-year agreement with Sydney Thunder ahead of the 2017 edition, will also play her third successive season in the domestic T20 tournament in Australia.

Mandhana, who is the vice-captain of the Indian T20I side, is the third-highest scorer in the smallest format in 2018. She had a mega run with the Western Storm side in the Women’s Cricket Super League (WCSL) in England earlier this year, amassing 421 runs in just nine innings to finish as the tournament’s top run-getter. The tally is the highest in all editions of the WCSL and WBBL. Mandhana will have her Storm captain Heather Knight as a mate in the Hurricanes side.

The 22-year-old Mumbai-born has six fifties in 52 T20Is that she has played and scored over 1,000 runs. Her highest score of 83 in the format came against Australia in the recent World T20 and she was also the highest scorer (34) in the semi-final against England which India lost badly to crash out of the tournament.

Madhana, a left-hand opener, scored at a phenomenal strike rate of over 174 this season and hit 21 sixes – both figures that have created all-time records in the WCSL.

In the WBBL, Mandhana had earlier played for Brisbane Heat in the second season but picked up an injury ahead of the ICC World Cup 2017.

Mandhana excited about her new WBBL stint

“I’m really excited to have another opportunity in the WBBL this summer. I’ve heard from many players that the Hurricanes group is a great squad to be around and I can’t wait to get to Tasmania for the matches,” Mandhana was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Sher will be playing her final game in the WBBl on December 8 at home against Melbourne Stars.

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