Was Harmanpreet Kaur's WBBL 2021 the best all-round season ever in WBBL History?
Spoiler Alert - It is quite close
Harmanpreet Kaur was WBBL 2021’s player-of-the-tournament. That suggests that she was the best / most impactful player this season in the tourney, not just for the Melbourne Renegades.
That brought forth another question – Was her performance this season the best all-round performance across any season of the WBBL? Short answer – Almost.
Harmanpreet’s season to remember
With 406 runs (58 Avg | 130.96 SR) and 15 wickets (20.86 Avg | 7.45 Econ), Kaur had a phenomenal season. She was the leading run-scorer as well as wicket-taker for the Renegades. With 18 sixes, she also had the most number of sixes this season.
Among batters with at least 100 runs in the season, Harmanpreet Kaur had the third best strike rate (130.96). No one scored more runs than her at a better rate. What’s better, she averaged 58 – which was the second best this season among all batters. She truly was the epitome of consistency this season.
The 15 wickets she took puts her on 10th in the list of highest wicket-takers this season. One of only 5 players to have 200+ Runs and 10+ wickets this season. Only Sophie Devine has more runs than Kaur, and no one has more wickets than her.
It’s safe to say that Harmanpreet Kaur had a season to remember indeed. But wait, There’s more!
Death over’s specialist – With the Bat & the Ball
Harmanpreet Kaur owned the 16th – 20th over mark this season. 8 of her 15 wickets were picked up in this period – The 5th highest. She went for a few runs, as her economy rate of 8.26 would suggest, but she came clutch often – picking up the key wickets.
Most famously, picking up the wicket of a rampant Smriti Mandhana (Who was on 64 of just 43 balls) in the 16th over, halting Sydney Thunder’s race to a win. Also, bowling the last over in their 2nd match vs Sydney Thunder – defending 13 against Mandhana, again, who was batting on an unbeaten century.
With the bat, she was an absolute Monster in the death overs. She didn’t just score the most runs (136), she also did so at the best Strike Rate (234.48), and was dismissed just twice between overs 16 – 20. She scored 33% of her runs this tournament in the death overs. Given that she walked in at No. 4 or 5 most of the time, she doubled up as the finisher for the team as the numbers clearly suggest.
Her magnum opus was against Brisbane Heat, where she walloped 43 runs between overs 16 – 20, from just 20 balls. A symphony of destruction.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s performance compared across seasons
Harmanpreet’s haul of 406 runs and 15 wickets in a single season is easily among the best all-round performances in the history of WBBL. There have been only two instances of players who have scored more runs and picked up more wickets – Jess Jonnasen (419 Runs & 21 Wickets) for Brisbane Heat in 2019 and Sophie Devine (769 Runs and 19 Wickets) for Adelaide Strikers in 2019.
In terms of difference in batting and bowling average (Batting avg – Bowling avg. The higher the better, as it means that they scored runs heavily & they picked up wickets for cheap), Harmanpreet Kaur comes trump again. She has the third highest difference in average in the history of WBBL. Only Elyse Perry for Sydney Sixers in 2018 and Sophie Devine for Adelaide Strikers in 2019 have a better average difference (Cut off 200+ Runs and 10+ wickets).
And finally, death over batting. Harmanpreet Kaur’s pièce de resistance so it appears. Among batters who have faced at least 100 balls between overs 16-20 across all seasons of the WBBL, Kaur has the second-best Strike Rate. There are three players who have scored more runs than her at death – Elyse Perry, Bridget Patterson, and Sophie Devine. No prizes for guessing who has the better strike rate than Kaur – It’s Sophie Devine.
Numbers don’t tell the whole story. But they tell us quite a bit. It’s safe to say that Harmanpreet Kaur’s exploits in the WBBL this season, would probably rank among the Top 3 (or 5) individual all-round performances ever in WBBL. Sophie Devine’s 2019 numbers are head-and-shoulders above on most metrics – But that perhaps is a discussion for another day.
We also saw that it’s not just about 2021, but Harmanpreet Kaur has been an elite level player in the WBBL for a few seasons now. Her Death over exploits is not talked about often.
She is an absolute asset to have for any team at No.4-5, and bowling more than a few handy overs. If the WBBL had an auction system akin to the IPL, would be safe to bet that Kaur would / should go for the top bucks. And rightly so.
Great to see a post like this on Women's Cricket. Harmanpreet Kaur is one of a kind batter. Hope she can reproduce this form in the Indian Blues as well