Matthews gains big in ICC Women’s T20I Batting Rankings

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has moved up to a career-best-equalling second position in the ICC Women’s T20I Batting Rankings after a valiant show against England, while Pakistan spinner Sadia Iqbal has regained the number one position among bowlers after Sophie Ecclestone missed her team’s recent T20I series.

Matthews, who top-scored in the three-match series with 177 runs that included an unbeaten century (100) in the first match in Canterbury and was named the Player of the Series, has overtaken India’s Smriti Mandhana and Australia’s Tahlia McGrath to reclaim second position, which she had last occupied in December last year.

Former England captain Heather Knight, who contributed 109 runs, including an unbeaten 66 in the third match in Chelmsford, has moved up seven places to 17th, while skipper Nat Sciver Brunt is up five slots to ninth after aggregating 92 runs and leading her side to a 3-0 series washout. Sophia Dunkley is up eight places to 29th.

In the bowling rankings, England spinner Sophie Ecclestone has slipped from first to fourth after missing the series as she was recuperating from an injury and played domestic cricket during the past week.

She has been replaced at the top of the charts by another left-arm spinner, Sadia, while India’s Deepti Sharma and Australia’s Annabel Sutherland have taken the second and third positions, respectively.

Sadia was briefly number one in October last year during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai, when she had become the first from her country to grab the top spot.

England’s new-ball bowler Lauren Bell has advanced 13 places to a career-best sixth position after finishing with a series-topping seven wickets. Linsey Smith (up 37 places to 41st) and Issy Wong (up 32 places to joint-62nd) are others progressing in the bowling rankings. Sportsmax