Cape Town: India wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh and fast bowler Renuka Thakur have achieved career-best T20I rankings in the latest ICC Women’s T20I rankings published on Wednesday.
Richa has moved into the top 20 of the Women’s T20I rankings for batters for the first time after some good scores in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa. Her unbeaten knocks of 41 against the West Indies and 47 against England in the last week have lifted her 16 places to 20th position.
Richa also became the fifth Indian to be in the top 20 alongside vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (third), Shafali Verma (10th), Jemimah Rodrigues (12th) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (13th) in the list led by Australia’s fast-bowling all-rounder Tahlia McGrath.
In the rankings for the bowlers, Renuka’s incredible haul of five for 15 against England has lifted her seven places to a career-best fifth position.
New Zealand fast bowler Lea Tahuhu, who has moved from 10th to seventh, has broken the 700-rating points barrier for the first time after taking eight wickets in four matches. Her teammate, all-rounder Amelia Kerr’s match-winning 66 against Sri Lanka at Paarl has helped her to a career-best 16th position while also gaining three places to reach 13th place among bowlers.
Pakistan’s left-handed opener Muneeba Ali has risen 10 places to a career-best 64th position after becoming the first woman from her country to score a T20I century. Australia captain Meg Lanning, who scored 48 not out versus Bangladesh, is up one place to fourth while former New Zealand captain Suzie Bates has moved up two places to sixth after scores of 81 not out against Bangladesh and 56 against Sri Lanka.
South Africa’s Tazmin Brits (up six places to 21st), England’s Amy Jones (up two places to 26th), Ireland’s Orla Prendergast (up eight places to 38th) and Sri Lanka’s Harshitha Samarawickrama (up four places to 39th) are among others to move up the batting rankings. Pakistan all-rounder Nida Dar has progressed two places to 37th and has also advanced seven places to 16th among bowlers.
Australia’s 19-year-old fast bowler Darcie Brown has entered the top 10 for the first time with her economical bowling while West Indies captain Hayley Matthews is also in the top 10 after taking two for 14 against Pakistan.
Other bowlers to advance include spinners Sadia Iqbal of Pakistan (up 13 places to 20th), Karishma Ramharack of the West Indies (up 44 places to 28th) and Eden Carson of New Zealand (up 14 places to 37th). The all-rounders’ list sees Matthews and Amelia Kerr move up a slot each to take second and joint-third positions, respectively, while Nida Dar of Pakistan is fifth after moving up two places.
(IANS)
