Adelaide Strikers sign Dane Van Niekerk for upcoming WBBL

Adelaide [Australia], September 30 (ANI): Adelaide Strikers have announced the signing of Dane Van Niekerk for the upcoming edition of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).

A feature of the competition since its inception, the 28-year-old has been a crucial player across five seasons with the Sydney Sixers, playing an important role in back-to-back WBBL|02 and WBBL|03 championships.

The international star is thrilled to be heading to Adelaide this summer.

"I'm so excited to be joining the Strikers this year and very excited to join the team. I hope to make the fans proud," she said in an official release.

Captain for her home nation in all three formats, van Niekerk brings a wealth of experience with her to Adelaide. A leg-spinner by trade, the South African has proven herself as a ferocious allrounder who can attack with both bat and ball.

The right-hander is closing in on 1,000 WBBL runs, proving equally as dangerous with the ball, claiming 74 wickets in 76 matches. The Pretoria native made her debut in 2009 as a fresh-faced 16-year-old, claiming 3/11 in her second international appearance.

Her record is one that speaks for itself with close to 4,000 runs on the board and 173 wickets to her name at the international level. The allrounder has made a trio of Women's Cricket World Cup appearances, as well as taking part in every Women's T20 World Cup since 2009.

A record-breaker by nature, the leg-spinner was the first South African woman to take an international hat-trick, later also becoming the only South African player to take two five-wicket hauls in the Women's ODI format.

To add to her already overflowing list of achievements, van Niekerk most recently led the Oval Invincibles to victory in The Hundred, earning herself MVP honours in the process. (ANI)