2022 was ending pretty well for Australian all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner who won the player of the series award in the recently concluded T20 International series against India and now there’s another reason for her to celebrate. In the latest ICC Rankings, Gardner now sits at the numero uno position in the all-rounders’ category in T20I Cricket.
Gardner made valuable contributions in the penultimate and last T20s, making 42 and an unbeaten 66 respectively. She also ended the series with an extremely healthy strike rate of 166.67, which shows the impact that she had. In the final game, Gardner walked into bat with her team in a spot of bother at 55-3 in 7.5 overs, but she held her nerve and brought her experience to the fore. In Grace Harris, she found an able partner and together they took the visitors to 196, a score that was 54 runs too many for the Indians. It was an alliance that entertained the crowd to the core. With the ball in hand, she ended the series as the joint-highest wicket-taker (7), along with fellow teammate Heather Graham.
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Australia all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner has grabbed the No.1 position for all-rounders in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings ❤️#CricketTwitter #TeamAustralia pic.twitter.com/VkthUI0NRN
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) December 27, 2022
Gardner’s rise is a significant one as she now has 417 points, 28 better than New Zealand’s Sophie Devine who sits on 2nd position. Third on the list is India’s Deepti Sharma who has 387 points. Gardner has also climbed the batting and bowling charts because of her stellar shows in both departments. Meanwhile, Harris’ display of her power-hitting prowess has taken her to 61st position, a climb of 33 spots. The top-5 in the bowler’s list saw a change as South Africa’s sensation, Shabnim Ismail overtook India’s Renuka Singh for the 5th position.
The series between England and West Indies in the Caribbean was a memorable one for the visitors and some of their players have made significant gains in the ranking. Freya Davies and Alice Davidson-Richards have moved up the ladder after some impressive performances on the tour. In what was a dominating visit, England beat West Indies in all 8 games that were played. (5 ODIs and 5 T20Is)
