Women’s World T20: X-factor Tayla Vlaeminck primed to turn up heat

T20 rookie Tayla Vlaeminck announced her arrival on the world stage with a stunning catch but it is her pace, and willingness to deploy the short ball, that could prove vital for Australia.

Tayla Vlaeminck celebrates a wicket with teammates. Picture: Jan Kruger

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She leapt high and to the right, flinging out her arm in hope, more than anything.

The zinging white ball was already behind her when Tayla Vlaeminck clutched. It stuck! The twenty-year-old debutant had suddenly taken the catch of the Women’s World T20.

“It’s a bit of a blur really, I was pretty nervous in the field,” Vlaeminck said of her backward square leg heroics.

“When I saw it coming my way … natural instincts I suppose took over and I was lucky enough to get a hand on it and I think it just stuck. It was a bit of a fluke, to be honest.

“I saw it a few times on the screen — the girls were giving me s... for watching it.”

It’s been a bright start to a career that stalled before it had began.

Tayla Vlaeminck celebrates a wicket with teammates. Picture: Jan Kruger

Vlaeminck tore her ACL in 2015 and had a full knee reconstruction. She made it back out on to the field for just two games before it went again and she had another round of surgery.

But after bowling her first two T20 overs in Australian colours for just nine runs, it’s all history now.

“I suppose if someone told me two or three years ago this would be happening now, I wouldn’t have believed them,” she said.

“Even two, three months ago if someone said I’d be making my T20 debut in the World Cup, I would have laughed at them.

“I did a lot of hard work to get over all that stuff and to get here, but it’s still a pretty amazing opportunity that I’m grateful for.

“When you’re injured you either come back or you don’t. I wanted to keep playing cricket so I didn’t really have a choice.”

Vlaeminck, who still hasn’t made her WBBL debut but will play with the Renegades this summer, is heralded for her pace.

Tayla Vlaeminck lets one fly during a World T20 warm-up match. Picture: Jan Kruger

Her fastest ball against India was 119km/h. She threw a bouncer in for good measured as she opened the Australian attack.

“We were just in the huddle and then Meg (Lanning) said we’d start with me and I was like ‘Oh god’. I was pretty nervous,” she said.

“I suppose it was good to get into it early. I didn’t really know where the ball was going the first over. I couldn’t really feel my arm, my hands, I was so nervous.

“I’d been told in a couple of team meetings that there was a few players I had to target, so to get one (short ball) out was pretty good.”

The Victorian is regarded as Australia’s X-factor, and could well be the unknown it needs against the West Indies on Friday (AEDT).

“I thought Tayla bowled exceptionally well,” Australian coach Matthew Mott said.

“(She) set the tone early … she’s a point of difference.

“She’s one of the fastest bowlers in the world and she bowls a heavy ball and a hard length.”

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