Are Marufa Akter's T20 World Cup Performances A Sign of a Great Future?

One of the most promising young stars of the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in February 2023 was Marufa Akter. Find out more about the 18-year-old right here.

The ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023, which ran from February 10th to 26th in South Africa, was the eighth edition since the tournament was first held in 2008.

It's AN international championship for women's Twenty20 International cricket, it is a biennial tournament and for the third consecutive final, Australia (156/6) was the champions, beating host nation South Africa by 19 runs (137/6).

One of the most promising young stars of the tournament was Bangladesh's 18-year-old Marufa Akter.

Her nation may not have faired so well throughout the tournament, but that didn't stop Akter from shining and putting in some amazing performances, picking up three wickets in Bangladesh's opening game against Sri Lanka.

However, it wasn't to be for Bangladesh in their first world cup game. Sri Lanka (129/3) beat Bangladesh 126/8) by 7 wickets in a game that was played at the Newlands ground in Cape Town. Find out more about this young Bangladesh women's rising star right here.

Who is Marufa Akter?

Marufa Akter is a women's professional cricketer who was born in Nilphamari, Bangladesh, on New Year's Day (January 1st), 2005. The 18-year-old is a right-armed medium/fast-pace bowler and right-handed batter who was initially selected for the Bangladesh national team's tour of New Zealand in November 2022.

The extremely talented player made her Women's T20 International (WT20I) debut the following month (December 4th) against the New Zealand Women, and then her Women's One Day International (WODI) occurred just one week later (December 11th), where she faced the New Zealand Women again.

Also in the same month, her impressive form saw her being selected for the country's U-19 squad to play in the 2023 ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup - the first edition of the ICC Women's Under-19 Cricket World Cup, which was also held in South Africa.

Despite Bangladesh failing to win a match, Akter's performances made her the team's standout player. Many Indian Premier League (IPL) Women's teams will be looking to sign her in future IPL Mini auctions.

Who were the odds-on favourites to win the ICC Women's T20 World Cup?

Before the tournament began, many of today's most trusted ICC women's T20 world cup betting sites, such as the official 10CRIC10.com online bookmaker, had Australia as the favourites to win the event outright.

Heading into the tournament, the Australia women's side had a 66.70% implied probability rate of winning. If you prefer the European standard decimal odds format, it meant that Australia was priced at 1.50.

If you better understand the UK fractional odds format, it's the same as saying 1/2, and for those who prefer the American/moneyline odds format, it's -200.

Facts about the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

Let's take a quick look at a few fun facts from the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa. They include the following:

• Opening game and final dates – February 10th and 26th, 2023
• Host nation – South Africa
• Venues – Newlands Cricket Ground (Cape Town), Boland Park (Paarl), and St George's Park (Gqeberha)
• Format – Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I)
• Winner – Australia
• Runners-up – South Africa
• Teams entered – 10: Bangladesh and Ireland both made it via a qualifying tournament. Australia, West Indies, England, Pakistan, New Zealand, and India all made it via automatic qualification, and, as mentioned, South Africa was the host nation
• Total prize money - $2,450,000. The six teams that didn't make it past the group stage all pocketed $30,000 ($180,000). A total of 20 teams that were the winner of each pool match received $17,500 ($350,000). The two losing semi-finalists each received $210,000 ($420,000). The runners-up, South Africa, received $500,000, and the winners, Australia, received a cool $1,000,000.00
• Administrators – International Cricket Council (ICC)
• Total matches played – 23
• Most runs – Laura Wolvaardt, South Africa (230)
• Most wickets – Sarah Ecclestone, England (11)

An expert panel of judges also came up with a carefully selected 'team of the tournament.' Judges included Anjum Chopra, Nasser Hussain, Mel Jones, Lisa Sthalekar, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Ian Bishop, and Ebony Rainford-Brent.

The team in the tournament included the following impressive players:

Ashleigh Gardner, Megan Schut, Darcie Brown, and Alyssa Healy (wk) from Australia. Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnim Ismail, and Tazmin Brits from South Africa.

The only Indian player to be included was Richa Ghosh. England's Sophie Ecclestone and Nat Sciver-Brunt (c) were both included, as well as the West Indies' Karishma Ramharack, and Ireland's Orla Prendergast (12th woman).

Unfortunately, Marufa Akter was not included in the team of the tournament selection. However, we will no doubt see her being included in upcoming tournaments.

Where is it possible to bet on Women's Cricket?

Suppose you're looking to place a wager on any upcoming Women's IPL cricket matches. In that case, one of the most trusted sites you can turn to in India is the 10CRIC Sports betting site, which has hundreds of regular markets with competitive odds for the Women's IPL.

You can also find betting markets for most other major cricket events, such as One Day Internationals (ODIs), Twenty20s, Test Series, and the Cricket World Cup.

You may also be pleased to learn that you can bet on the men's Indian Premier League (IPL), the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), and the Australian Big Bash League (BBL).

Which team is most likely to win the Women's IPL this year?

If you're looking to bet on a team to win the Women's IPL this year, most bookies have the Mumbai Indians Women's team as the odds-on favourite. They currently have a 44.40% chance of winning the league outright and are priced at 2.25 in the decimal odds format, 125 in the American/moneyline odds format, and 5/4 in the fractional odds format.

However, don't forget that no bet is guaranteed. Also, the odds are subject to change at any time. If you're going to place a bet on the Women's IPL, remember to stay up to date with the latest team news, results, fixtures, conditions, and much more.

Final note

To bet real money at licensed online bookmakers like 10CRIC Sports, you must be at least 18 years of age. The website is free to sign up to, and there's a guaranteed sign-up bonus for all new members.

As well as cricket betting, you can also find hundreds of markets for many other major global sports and local Indian sports, such as football, badminton, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, kabaddi, motor racing, golf, basketball, baseball, name a few.

(Disclaimer: Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)