Ayabonga Khaka

Ayabonga Khaka (born 18 July 1992) is a South African cricketer who plays for the national cricket team as a right-arm medium bowler.

Early life and education Khaka was born and raised in Middledrift (also Middeldrift or Ixesi), near Alice in Eastern Cape. Her first experience of cricket was playing it in the streets of her home town.

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. , she was studying Human Movement Sciences at the university.

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 in South Africa. In January 2020, she was named in South Africa's squad for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia. On 23 July 2020, Khaka was named in South Africa's 24-woman squad to begin training in Pretoria, 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 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 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. On 8 May 2022, she bagged the tournament's first five-wicket haul, by taking 5/9 against the Sapphires. She was also awarded player of the match. At the end of the Invitational, she was included in the Team of the Tournament, after taking a total of nine wickets. In July 2022, she was named in South Africa's team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. In August 2022, she was signed as an overseas player for Guyana Amazon Warriors for the inaugural edition of the Women's Caribbean Premier League.

She was named in the South Africa squad for the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup and for the ODI part of their multi-format home series against England in November 2024.