Women's T20 World Cup team of the tournament: Who joins Ash Gardner and Laura Wolvaardt in our XI?

AMEY KULKARNI looks back at the standout performers from the Women's T20 World Cup

Tazmin Brits (South Africa)

6 matches, 186 runs, average 37.2, strike rate 103.91

Tazmin Brits played a key role in an opening partnership that took South Africa all the way to the final. Only four players scored more runs in the tournament than the 32-year-old former javelin thrower, who top-scored in the semi-final against England – the game of her life – and added another fifty in the must-win clash with Bangladesh.

Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa)

6 matches, 230 runs, average 46, strike rate 106.48

The leading run-scorer in the competition despite ending up on the wrong end of the final result, Wolvaardt missed out on a WPL deal during the tournament but proved her worth with three successive fifties against Bangladesh, England and Australia at the business end of the tournament. Alongside Brits, they never got off to fast starts but consistently laid a platform for their teammates. While she was at the crease, South Africa had a chance in the final.

Beth Mooney (Australia)

6 matches, 206 runs, average 51.5, strike rate 117.71

A T20 World Cup final expert, she has made unbeaten, match-winning half centuries in the finals of the last two tournaments, guiding Australia to a total in Cape Town that allowed them to win comfortably. She started the competition poorly but grew into it, with a crucial fifty against India before making her mark on the biggest stage of all.

^{Ash Gardner has enjoyed a terrific fortnight (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)}

Alyssa Healy (Australia)

5 matches, 189 runs, average 47.25, strike rate 115.95

Not at her very best with the gloves – and missed the group-stage win over South Africa through injury – but made a super fifty against New Zealand to launch their tournament with a brutal victory and added another in a routine win over Sri Lanka. Unusually, she didn't dominate the final but still picked up yet another winner's medal.

Nat Sciver-Brunt (England)

5 matches, 216 runs, average 72, strike rate 141.17

Sciver-Brunt was the highest run-scorer in the tournament ahead of the final, only to lose that tag to Wolvaardt, and was also in line for the player-of-the-tournament award until England's semi-final exit. The allrounder was in supreme form, more aggressive than ever with the bat and advancing her off-side game at the same time. Her unbeaten 81 against Pakistan was a remarkable knock. Until she was caught at long-on, the semi-final was England's to lose.

Ashleigh Gardner (Australia)

6 matches, 110 runs, average 36.66, strike rate 119.56, 10 wickets, average 12.5, economy 6.25

The Australian allrounder was the top performer in the tournament, particularly with the ball, beginning with a five-wicket haul against New Zealand. It has been some fortnight for Gardner, who also earned a big-money WPL deal during the competition and retained her composure after that news to make several valuable contributions on the way to her country's sixth T20 World Cup title.

^{South Africa were inspired by the performances of Tazmin Brits, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)}

Marizanne Kapp (South Africa)

6 matches, runs 58, average 14.5, strike rate 120.83, 9 wickets, average 15.44, economy 6.27

The South African allrounder had a poor tournament with the bat but was exemplary with the ball and was a major figure of inspiration for her side as they reached their first-ever World Cup final. She took two wickets in four different matches, while her unbeaten 27 against England was a crucial end-of-innings cameo.

Sophie Ecclestone (England)

5 matches, 11 wickets, average 7.54, economy 4.15

Sophie Ecclestone was the tournament's highest wicket-taker and didn't deserve her semi-final exit. Her economy rate of 4.15 was exceptional, particularly for a spinner in white-ball cricket. Her brilliance couldn't carry her team to the title, but it reinforced her label as the best bowler in the women's game. She went to 200 international wickets when she had Chloe Tryon caught in a fabulous 19th over against South Africa.

Megan Schutt (Australia)

6 matches, 10 wickets, 13.5, economy 6.13

The Australian seamer enjoyed a typically impressive tournament. Her performances with the ball at any stage of the innings made her key for Meg Lanning, who used her at the start and end of the innings. Only Ecclestone took more wickets than the veteran, whose inswinger yorker to trap Wolvaardt in front ended the final as a contest.

^{Darcie Brown was excellent for Australia (Ashley Vlotman/Getty Images)}

Shabnim Ismail (South Africa)

6 matches, 8 wickets, average 16.12, economy 5.86

The veteran fast bowler delivered the quickest over recorded in the women's game, dragging South Africa into the driving seat against England in the semi-final. She sent down her 21st T20I maiden against Australia, and no one bowled more than her three in this competition. A final appearance in front of her own fans was rich reward for a great stalwart of the game.

Darcie Brown (Australia)

6 matches, 7 wickets, average 15, economy 5

Still only 19 years of age, the fast bowler was fantastic for Australia, taking key wickets throughout, particularly when Meg Lanning brought her back in search of a breakthrough against India, only for Brown to bounce out Jemimah Rodrigues with her first ball. Without that mini-spell, Australia might not have reached the final.

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