TEAMS across The Hundred women’s competition have confirmed a number of new overseas signings - with Smriti Mandhana joining Southern Brave.

The new 100-ball competition, which starts on July 21, will now feature five Indian superstars in Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shefali Verma.

Verma – the number one ranked T20 batter in the world – comes in as a replacement for Sophie Devine at Birmingham Phoenix.

With the logistical difficulties thrown up by COVID-19, Devine has opted out of the competition in order to be in the best position to prepare for international cricket, particularly with the ICC Women's World Cup due to be held in her native New Zealand in February.

Kaur will play for Manchester Originals, and therefore star in the competition opener. Mandhana is set to form a devastating opening partnership with Danni Wyatt at Southern Brave, Deepti Sharma will join England captain Heather Knight at London Spirit and Jemimah Rodrigues will be in the purple of Northern Superchargers.

Beth Barrett-Wild, head of The Hundred women’s competition, said: “It’s so good to finally be able to confirm the involvement of some of the superstars from the India team.

“They’re a hugely exciting group of players and they’ll bring a lot to the competition.

“I can’t wait for July 21, I can’t wait for the whole competition, and I can’t wait for fans to see these world-class players doing what they do best.”