Beth Mooney becomes No.1 T20I batter; Shafali Verma drops to second

Australia’s Beth Mooney has claimed the top spot in the ICC’s rankings for batters in Women’s T20Is. She toppled India’s Shafali Verma, who dropped down to second with a difference of 28 rating points. The left-handed batter was the leading run-scorer in the three-match T20I series against India earlier this month, having scored 95 runs at an average of 47.50 and strike rate of 120.25.

Her top score of 61 came in the third match where Australia won by 14 runs to clinch the series 2-0 after the opening game was washed off. Shafali, on the other hand, had a torrid time as she managed only 22 runs at an average of 7.33 at a strike rate under a run-a-ball.

Beth Mooney replaced Rachael Haynes for India ODIs and T20Is

Mooney came to the fore after Rachael Haynes was ruled out due to an injury after the opening ODI in Mackay. Thereafter, Mooney scored an unbeaten 125 in the second ODI while opening the batting and also topped the run-charts in the 50-over format.

In the T20I rankings for women’s batters, Smriti Mandhana also went up to third, toppling Aussie skipper Meg Lanning. The left-handed Mandhana scored 70 runs in the T20I series with a top score of 64 while Lanning notched only 29 runs at an average of 14.50.

Among the bowlers, Rajeshwari Gayakwad rose to 12 after becoming the leading wicket-taker in the T20Is with five scalps at an economy rate of 7.25. Left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux also jumped 12 spots to No.9 after getting three wickets at an economy rate of 5.60.

In the rankings for all-rounders, Ashleigh Gardner broke into the top 10. She was lacklustre with the bat as she managed only two runs from as many games. But she picked up four wickets, the most by any Australian bowler in the three-match series.

Deepti Sharma moved to fifth, surpassing Jess Jonassen in the bowler’s list. Ellyse Perry dropped down to No.7 seven below West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor among the all-rounders.

In ODI cricket, Zimbabwe all-rounder Josephine Nkomo made significant gains after getting 164 runs and picking up four wickets against Ireland in the four-match series.