Kelis Ndhlovu

Kelis Ndhlovu (born 16 November 2005) is a Zimbabwean cricketer who plays for the Zimbabwe women's national cricket team. She is an all-rounder who plays as a left-arm orthodox bowler and a left-hand batter. Her father, Eddie Ndhlovu, is a well-known filmmaker in the country.

She took the most wickets in the 2022 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE. She represented Zimbabwe in the 2023 Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup. In 2024, she won Player of the Tournament as Zimbabwe won a gold medal in the African Games.

On 19 April 2023, she became the first bowler to take a five-wicket haul (5/22) for Zimbabwe in women's ODIs. However, Zimbabwe lost the match despite her heroics, due to a six-wicket haul (6/6) in the same match by Thailand's Thipatcha Putthawong.

Background Ndhlovu took up cricket at primary school after her friend convinced her to. Her friend's mother wanted her friend to play cricket, which made Ndhlovu and her friend play together. Though her friend dropped out of the sport, she continued playing. In Grade Three, she set herself the target of " taking either player, batter or bowler of the match, or fielder of the tournament" in every game she played.

She did her primary schooling at Prince Edward School in Harare. Later, she studied at Sake 3 High, followed by Wise Owl. She simultaneously pursues her studies and plays cricket for her country. She utilizes private tutors, and when on a tour, she takes online classes. She said she "stays up till 3 a.m. every day studying."

She idolizes Zimbabwean players Modester Mupachikwa and Milton Shumba.

Career Ndhlovu, at age 16, has won two titles for the Eagles in five months. At 17 years and 154 days, she became the third youngest woman to take a five-wicket haul in ODI cricket. She took ten wickets at an average of 5.80 in her debut series, despite her side being whitewashed 0-3. In February 2024, she took four wickets for nine runs in a twenty-over game against OMTEX Cricket Institute in Mumbai. She represented Zimbabwe in the 2024 African Games in March 2024 (the first edition of African Games to feature cricket), and hit the winning runs against the South Africa Emerging team, to seal the gold medal. She was named Player of the Match in the final and Player of the Tournament in the African Games. She was invited to participate in the 2024 FairBreak Invitational in Antigua; however, no such tournament seemed to materialize.

Ndhlovu has been nominated for ICC Women's Player of the Month for April 2023. She became the youngest player nominated for the ICC monthly award.