Ayabonga Khaka (born 18 July 1992) is a South African

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays for the national cricket team as a right-arm

medium Medium may refer to: Aircraft *Medium bomber, a class of warplane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Medium'' (1921 film), a German silent film * ''The Medium'' (1951 film), a film vers ...

bowler. In March 2018, she was one of fourteen players to be awarded a national contract by

Cricket South Africa Cricket South Africa aka CSA is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South ...

ahead of the 2018–19 season.

Early life and education

Khaka was born and raised in

Middledrift Middledrift, officially Xesi, 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 Ciskei. T ...

(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 ...

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

. 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 at the cricket academy of the

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare () is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to ...

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 International Women's One Day International (ODI) is the limited overs form of women's cricket. Matches are scheduled for 50 overs, equivalent to the men's game. The first women's ODIs were played in 1973, as part of the first Women's World Cup which was ...

s (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 The Women's T20 Super League is a women's domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament organised by Cricket South Africa. The tournament began in September 2019, with four teams taking part; these teams were renamed for a second competition in December ...

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 Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The 2020 Women's T20 World Cup final, final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Internati ...

in Australia. On 23 July 2020, Khaka was named in South Africa's 24-woman squad to begin training in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, 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 gender ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, 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 batter. Takin ...

, by taking 5/9 against the Sapphires. She was also awarded

player of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

. 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 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, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England. In August 2022, she was signed as an overseas player for

Guyana Amazon Warriors The Guyana Amazon Warriors is a cricket team of the Caribbean Premier League based in Providence, Georgetown, Guyana. It represents Guyana in the league and was established in 2013 for the inaugural season. The team plays home games at Provi ...

for the inaugural edition of the

Women's Caribbean Premier League The Women's Caribbean Premier League is a women's Twenty20 cricket competition organised by Cricket West Indies. The inaugural tournament took place in 2022, running alongside the equivalent men's tournament. Three teams competed in the tournam ...

. She was named in the South Africa squad for the

2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2024 Women's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup. Originally scheduled to be hosted in Bangladesh from 3 to 20 October 2024, it was later relocated to the United Arab Emirates for the same dates due to political ...

and for the ODI part of their multi-format home series against England in November 2024.

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