India’s swashbuckling opener Shafali Verma has regained numero uno position in the ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings after putting up a strong performance in the first two matches of the ongoing three-match series against South Africa in Lucknow. The 17-year-old big-hitter from Rohtak surpassed Australian southpaw Beth Mooney with scores of 23 and 47 in the first and second T20I respectively against South Africa.
Apart from Verma, South Africa opener Lizelle Lee is another one to gain in the T20I rankings even though the big-hitting opener lost her top spot in the ODI rankings within a week of replacing England’s Tammy Beaumont. Lee has leapfrogged three places to reach 11th position among T20I batters after smashing a match-winning 70 against India to help the visitors take an unassailable lead of 2-0.
At the Top, Yet Again!⚡️
That’s where Shafali Verma belongs 🙌#ICCRankings pic.twitter.com/UwEq3bDp7O
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) March 23, 2021
The other South African Laura Wolvaardt has climbed up five spots to 24th after steering her team to a six-wicket win with an unbeaten 53 in the second match while captain Sune Luus (up five places to 38th) and Nadine de Klerk (up three places to 74th) are the other Proteas to go up the ranks in the batting list.
Nadine de Klerk, who bowls right-arm medium pace, also moved up five slots to 68th among bowlers while seamer Ayabonga Khaka (up two places to 35th) and left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba (up 14 places to 75th) have also made advances in the latest weekly update to the women’s rankings, carried out on Tuesdays.
That’s the kind of havoc 2 17-year-olds (Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh) created in 2nd T20I. #INDvSA
🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/p1A5YKLhlC
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) March 23, 2021
For team India, left-hand bat Deepti Sharma has moved up four spots to 40th and teenager Richa Ghosh has skyrocketed 59 places to 85th among batters while young all-rounder Harleen Deol, who scored a half-century in the first T20I against South Africa has progressed in both lists, up 262 places to 99th among batters and up 76 places to 146th among bowlers. Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad has moved up from 34th to 25th rank.
Apart from the T20I rankings, there have been some updates in the ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings.
South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp has advanced from fourth to second among bowlers and has surpassed West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor to second in the list of all-rounders led by Australia’s Elysse Perry.
Mignon du Preez has gained four slots to reach the 16th position after her knock of 57 while Anne Bosch has progressed in both the batting and bowling lists. She has moved up 58 places to reach 70th spot among batters and five places to 85th among bowlers. Tumi Sukhukhune has advanced eight places to 37th.
For India, captain Mithali Raj, the highest run-getter in women’s ODIs, has moved up one place to eighth after an unbeaten 79 while Priya Punia has moved up five places to 53rd. Gayakwad is up eight places to 38th among bowlers. The 4-1 series win sees South Africa overtake England to the second position in the ICC Women’s ODI Team Rankings while India remains fourth.
The data in the article is sourced from ANI
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