Quick guide:
The Hundred
A new format in cricket which not only promised to be entertaining but also challenging. The talks of it left the audience intrigued to know what the new format has to offer to the players and the fans both. Fans did have different views to it as the format challenged the widely known cricket formats, but most of the fans were actively involved throughout the league and were keen to know more about it. It also attracted a lot of new audience, across all age groups.
The Hundred is a new professional 100-ball cricket format introduced by the ECB with 8 men’s and 8 women’s teams which took place from 21st July – 21st August 2021. While traditional cricket formats may not be similar to the newly introduced league, it has surely opened the space to bring in more attention and entertainment to the fans. The shortest format of cricket widely known is T20 with 120-ball single innings. The 100 was a lot different with the new rules, 100-ball single innings, 5/10 ball over from the bowler, etc.
Read more about the format here: The Hundred Competition.
The Hundred Women’s competition had a few familiar names in their squad for the Indian fans! The five players from India that participated in The Hundred league were:
- Jemimah Rodrigues (Northern Superchargers)
- Deepti Sharma (London Spirit)
- Shafali Verma (Birmingham Phoenix)
- Smriti Mandhana (Southern Brave)
- Harmanpreet Kaur (Manchester Originals)
The two players who really needed to play in the league like – The Hundred were Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur. Jemimah Rodrigues’ form in Internationals before The Hundred had not been so great. She had been trying to find her groove back. Her ODI scores in the five matches she played this year were 1, 9, 0, 8 and 4 and her T20I scores were 30 and 16.
She was dropped in the last two matches of the five-match series against South Africa (early in March 2021) and the first match of the India vs England series (June 2021). She did not get a chance to be a part of the playing 11 for the T20Is in the entire India vs England series.
If it wasn’t for The Hundred, it feels like the Indian team management surely would have started to look beyond Jemimah, as players like Priya Punia are waiting for a chance in the playing 11.
Harmanpreet Kaur doesn’t seem to be in her character (consistency of form) for a long time now. There was one exceptional innings in the South Africa Series, where she scored 54 in 35 balls but there isn’t anything noteworthy from the vice-captain after that. Her scores in the one-off test were 4 and 8. Her scores in ODI series were 1, 19 and 16 and for T20Is her scores were 1, 31, 36 this year.
With injuries, illness and breaks, it was difficult for her to get back to her form and be consistent in it. While the captain Mithali Raj, and team management believed that it was only a matter of one innings for a player like her to come back in form, Harman definitely was under a lot of pressure herself, and it was evident in her batting approach.
It was necessary for both Jemimah and Harman to have a tournament where they can play without any pressure and gain that much needed confidence back. The Hundred surely has done wonders for them.
Jemimah started her league with a blistering knock of 92* in 43 balls which remained the highest individual score till the end of the tournament. She went on to score 3 fifties and remained the highest total run scorer till the last match of the tournament. This surely has given Rodrigues the much-needed confidence back. Harmanpreet started with a 16 ball 29 in the first match, and although she could only play 3 total matches before being ruled out for a quad injury, we can only hope she has gained her lost touch.
Smriti Mandhana. Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma weren’t really out of form but still they had a lot to prove. All of them needed the exposure and experience to handle pressure situations and flourish under that. Most importantly this league gave them much needed game time and good practice of 8 high quality matches before moving to the next series against Australia.
Statistical view
Here is a statistical view of how the 5 Indian players have performed in the inaugural season of The Hundred with kind support from WCricStats
Batting:
Highest Total Run Scorers of The Tournament
| Name | Runs | Rank |
| Jemimah Rodrigues | 249 | 2 |
| Shafali Verma | 171 | 14 |
| Smriti Mandhana | 167 | 15 |
| Harmanpreet Kaur | 104 | 33 |
| Deepti Sharma | 77 | 38 |
Average:
| Name | Average | Rank |
| Harmanpreet Kaur | 52.00 | 1 |
| Jemimah Rodrigues | 41.50 | 5 |
| Smriti Mandhana | 27.83 | 18 |
| Shafali Verma | 24.43 | 24 |
| Deepti Sharma | 19.25 | 34 |
Strike Rate:
| Name | Strike Rate |
| Jemimah Rodrigues | 150.91 |
| Shafali Verma | 142.50 |
| Smriti Mandhana | 133.60 |
| Deepti Sharma | 113.24 |
| Harmanpreet Kaur | 109.47 |
Bowling:
Wickets
| Name | Wickets | Rank |
| Deepti Sharma | 10 | 9 |
Dots:
| Name | Dots | Rank |
| Deepti Sharma | 69 | 6 |
Runs per ball / Economy Rate:
| Name | ER | Rank |
| Deepti Sharma | 0.88 | 3 |
Catches:
| Name | Catches |
| Smriti Mandhana | 5 |
| Harmanpreet Kaur | 2 |
| Shafali Verma | 2 |
| Deepti Sharma | 1 |
| Jemimah Rodrigues | 1 |
Impact of The Hundred Women’s Competition
- There was huge viewership for The Hundred Women’s tournament all over the world. The grounds were almost 70% filled in all of the matches, and every day a new record of ‘most attended domestic women’s match’ was created.
- Over all tournament attendance for the Women’s games were recorded to be 267k – the highest ever for a domestic women’s competition. It started with 7,395 in person attendance in the first game at Kia Oval ( Oval Invincibles vs Manchester Originals – 21st July) and went up to 17,116 in person attendance in the final game at Lord’s ( Oval Invincibles vs Southern Brave – 21st August) (numbers via ECB/The Hundred)
- The league has recorded the highest viewed group stage of any women’s tournament so far in history. This also means that women’s cricket is gaining attention and the more they play, the more the attention it will get. It is about creating opportunities and marketing the game well.
- While it is understood it is a new tournament and in it’s first season, it is also to be noticed that in the first season itself the tournament has gained a lot of audience across the world. Converting this reach to the traditional cricket format might be relatively easier as the audience is now familiar with the players and would love to watch them play.
Impact on Women’s Cricket in India
- This can have a positive impact in Indian women cricket scenario as the Indian board can see how successful a women’s league can get. Adapting to the similar marketing strategy and promoting women’s cricket by introducing our very own IPL like tournament for Women can help us build a strong pool of Indian players which are now upcoming names in the household and are performing well in the domestic circuit.
- Indian players have created a lot of buzz in the tournament with their exceptional performance and presence. This has also added up the attention and fan base of these players. If a tournament is introduced, there are higher chances of it getting worldwide attention and audience.
- India’s batting line up is often criticized for lack of intent, low scoring rate and inability to take quick singles. Tournaments like this can help Indian batters hugely in this area and prepare with much more games under their belt while playing for India.
- Sharing a dressing room with foreign legends and training with different coaches is very beneficial and helps improve their game for the better.
Special Moments from the tournament (on/off the field)
-
- Harmanpreet Kaur in No Balls TCP podcast with teammates Alex Hartley and Kate Cross. The episode was one of the best episodes. (Listen Now)
- Jemimah on guitar with Laura Wolvaardt (Watch Now)
- Jemimah’s first match, 92* in 43 balls. Which remained the highest score by an individual player in the tournament (Watch Now)
- One of the legend of Women’s cricket, Sarah Taylor’s hug to Jemimah after the 92* innings will be a very special moment to witness for the fans!
- Shafali Verma’s unbeaten partnership with Eve Jones for 131 runs against Welsh Fire which is also a new record set in the tournament.
- Shafali’s friendship with teammate Issy Wong was one of the off-field moments that made the fans happy to know about.
- Smriti’s innings of 78 against Welsh fire.
- Deepti’s economic bowling throughout the tournament. Runs per ball didn’t go over 1.
- Shafali v Brunt. The youngster chose to smile through the celebration which was reflective of the maturity and understanding she has as a player.
~Poulami Das (Stats Analyst), Urvi Shah (Author)
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