Ayabonga Khaka (born 18 July 1992) is a South African
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er who plays for the
national cricket team as a right-arm
medium bowler.
In March 2018, she was one of fourteen players to be awarded a national contract by
Cricket South Africa ahead of the 2018–19 season.
Early life and education
Khaka was born and raised in
Middledrift
Ixesi (also Middeldrift or Middledrift) is a small town located north-west of East London in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality in Amathole District in an area that was formerly part of the ...
(also Middeldrift or Ixesi), near
Alice
Alice may refer to:
* Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname
Literature
* Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll
* ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
in
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.
The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
.
Her first experience of cricket was playing it in the streets of her home town.
She started playing the game formally while in grade 1 at Ingwenya Primary School. That year, at the age of seven, she became the only girl in the boys mini cricket team.
Right from the beginning, Khaka preferred bowling to batting, as she was less likely to be hit by the ball, and it was challenging, especially against boys. She took particular pleasure in getting boys out. Another reason she liked cricket is that it involved a lot of discipline.
Khaka continued playing mini cricket until she was 14, because no other choices were available to her, and she did not know about women's cricket. Then she started at Ntabenkonyana Senior Secondary School, where not much cricket was played. She therefore quit playing cricket, and took up soccer. The following year, when she was in grade 9, she resumed playing cricket, this time for Middledrift Women's Cricket Club.
Eventually, Khaka had to choose between cricket and football. She opted for cricket because she enjoyed it more.
While playing at Middledrift Women's Cricket Club, she was selected for the Border Under 19 girls' team, and also played simultaneously for
the senior provincial team. In 2009, she was selected for the national Under 19 team.
Khaka spent much of her early career working with former
men's national team fast bowler
Mfuneko Ngam
Mfuneko Ngam (born 29 January 1979) is a South African cricketer who played three Tests for South Africa in the 2000–01 season. However, stress fractures in his legs allowed him to play only five first-class matches between January 2001 and O ...
at the cricket academy of the
University of Fort Hare in Alice.
, she was studying Human Movement Sciences at the university.
Career
Khaka made her debut for the national team in September 2012 against Bangladesh.
In May 2018, she took her 50th wicket in
Women's One Day Internationals (WODIs), during the series
against Bangladesh.
In September 2019, she was named in the
F van der Merwe XI squad for the inaugural edition of the
Women's T20 Super League in South Africa. In January 2020, she was named in South Africa's squad for the
2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup
The 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women's Day. Hosts Aus ...
in Australia. On 23 July 2020, Khaka was named in South Africa's 24-woman squad to begin training in
Pretoria, ahead of their
tour to England.
In January 2022, in the second match
against the West Indies, Khaka took her first
five-wicket haul in WODIs, with 5 for 26. In February 2022, she was named in South Africa's team for the
2022 Women's Cricket World Cup
The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...
in New Zealand. In South Africa's first match of the tournament, against Bangladesh, Khaka took her 100th wicket in WODI cricket.
In May 2022, Khaka played for the Spirit team in the privately run
2022 FairBreak Invitational T20
The 2022 FairBreak Invitational T20 was a women's Twenty20 cricket competition, which took place from 4 to 15 May 2022 in Dubai. The tournament, sanctioned by the ICC, was privately-run by FairBreak Global, a company that aims to promote gende ...
in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates. On 8 May 2022, she bagged the tournament's first
five-wicket haul
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman.
Takin ...
, by taking 5/9 against the Sapphires. She was also awarded
player of the match.
At the end of the Invitational, she was included in the Team of the Tournament, after taking a total of nine wickets.
In June 2022, Khaka was named in South Africa's
Women's Test
Women's Test cricket is the longest format of women's cricket and is the female equivalent to men's Test cricket. Matches comprise four-innings and are held over a maximum of four days between two of the leading cricketing nations. The rules gov ...
squad for their one-off match
against England Women. In July 2022, she was named in South Africa's team for the
cricket tournament at the
2022 Commonwealth Games
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...
in
Birmingham, England. In August 2022, she was signed as an overseas player for
Guyana Amazon Warriors for the inaugural edition of the
Women's Caribbean Premier League.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khaka, Ayabonga
1992 births
Living people
People from Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality
South African women cricketers
South Africa women One Day International cricketers
South Africa women Twenty20 International cricketers
Border women cricketers
Central Gauteng women cricketers
IPL Supernovas cricketers
IPL Velocity cricketers
Guyana Amazon Warriors (WCPL) cricketers
Cricketers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games competitors for South Africa