Hailing from Middledrift in the Eastern Cape, Ayabonga Khaka picked up the game early, playing the game against the boys and joined Mini Cricket when she got to Grade 1, at around age 7. 

The right-arm medium bowler started her career in 2012 when she made her debut for the Proteas at 20 against Bangladesh. A consistent bowler wicket-taker with over 100 wickets to her name across all forms of the game, Ayabonga won Cricket South Africa’s Women’s Player of the Year for 2021/2022. 

Ayabonga was one of the 15 Proteas Women who became the first South African team to make it to a World Cup Final to take on the world on home soil in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023. It was Ayabonga’s heroics at the death with 3 wickets that helped the team beat England by just 6 runs.

Ayabonga is a quiet assassin on the pitch and there’s no doubt that she’ll continue to be one of the strongest bowlers in the South African women’s outfit for years to come.

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ACCOLADES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• (2022) ICC Women’s ODI Team
  of the Year
• (2022) CSA Player of the Year.
• (2022) CSA Players’ Player of the Year.
• (2022) First player to take five wickets at Fairbreak Invitational tournament in Dubai.
• Most wickets in ODIs bowling first change
• Over 50 T20i wickets
  

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