Yvonne Rainsford

Yvonne Rainsford was part of history when Zimbabwe played their first one-day internationals in the World Cup pre-qualifiers for Africa in December, 2006. The side romped to a three-match cleansweep to earn a spot at the qualifying tournament in South Africa in 2008. Zimbabwe's women failed to nail down a place at the World Cup, but acquitted themselves well with wins over Scotland and Bermuda to finish fifth. A middle-order bat, Rainsford played an important role in both of the victories. Indeed, she found the Scottish attack to her liking, and after her boundary-laden 37 against them at the Qualifiers she struck her first international fifty - an aggressive 72-ball 69 - to set up a massive 161-run win in the fifth place play-off later in the tournament. Rainsford comes from a strong cricketing family: her brother, Ed, has also represented Zimbabwe at the top level.
Liam Brickhill August 2010