India’s wonder girl Shafali Vema and England’s young spin sensation Sophie Ecclestone are top-ranked batter and bowler in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings released on 4th March 2020.
Both the teams India and England have qualified for the semi-finals of ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings and are all set to play in Sydeny.
Verma’s fearless batting at the top of the order has been applaudable. She is a six-hitting machine with a total of 161 runs in four matches. It includes 47 and 46 against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, which helped her become only the second India batter after Mithali Raj to top the Women’s T20I batting rankings.
The 16-year-old Shafali Verma took over New Zealand’s Suzie Bates, who was at the top of the charts since 2018. Before Bates, the record-holder was West Indies’ captain Stafanie Taylor.
Ecclestone took eight wickets in four matches. This included a best of three for seven against the West Indies. She is the first England bowler to be number one since Anya Shrubsole in April 2016 and also the first England spinner at the top since Danni Hazell in August 2015.
Some brilliant performances made several batters and bowlers move up the rankings including those who could not make it to the knockout stage of the 10-team tournament.
Some incredible performances from Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu see her move from 18th to 14th spot for batters. England’s Nat Sciver is again in the top 10 and captain Heather Knight in the top 15 for the first time, South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt has advanced 23 places to 44th, Pakistan’s Aliya Riaz has gained 24 places and is 48th while New Zealand’s Maddy Green is in the top 100 after advancing 28 slots.
Skipper Chamari Athapaththu moved from 18th to 14th spot for batters. England’s Nat Sciver is in the top 10 and captain Heather Knight in top 15. South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt moved to 23rd from 44th rank, Pakistan’s Aliya Riaz is 48th while New Zealand’s Maddy Green is in the top 100.
In the bowlers’ list, leg-spinners Amelia Kerr of New Zealand has moved up to 4th rank, India’s Poonam Yadav climbed up to 8th rank and Australia’s George Wareham is in 10th position have all made benefits in the latest rankings update.
Other bowlers to climb up include Diana Baig of Pakistan who moved up 34 places to 13th, Shashikala Siriwardene of Sri Lanka who moved up seven places to 14th, Anya Shrubsole of England who moved up five places to 17th, Dane van Niekerk of South Africa who moved up 12 places to a joint-22nd position and Shikha Pandey of India moved up 23 places to a joint-22nd position.
New Zealand’s captain Sophie Devine is the number one all-rounder in the tournament along with Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry. India’s Deepti Sharma moved up nine places to be in the 7th position. It is for the first time that she is among the top 10 in the all-rounders’ list.
Australia remains at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings with 290 points and England in the second position with 278.
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