ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal has maintained her position as the world’s No.1 bowler in the latest ICC Women’s T20I rankings, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Tuesday.
Sadia holds the top spot with a rating of 746 points, narrowly leading a highly competitive field where only 44 points separate the top 10 bowlers.
The 10th-ranked bowler, Afy Fletcher of the West Indies, has a rating of 702.
England’s pace bowler Lauren Bell made significant gains after her three-wicket haul in Nottingham, rising two spots to reach a career-best fourth place on the T20I bowlers list.
Meanwhile, Nashra (8th) and Australia’s Georgia Wareham (9th) share an identical rating of 704 points, underscoring the fierce competition among the elite bowlers.
On the batting front, India’s Smriti Mandhana is closing in on the top position in the T20I batter rankings after a stellar century against England in Nottingham.
Already the No.1 ODI batter, Mandhana’s innings of 112 helped her climb one place to third in the T20I rankings with a career-best rating of 771 points—just 23 points shy of the leader, Australia’s Beth Mooney.
Mandhana’s teammate Shafali Verma also gained a spot, moving up to 13th after scoring 20 runs in the same match, while Harleen Deol re-entered the rankings at equal 86th following a brisk 43-run knock.
The recently concluded T20I series between South Africa and the West Indies saw several players making notable advances.
South African youngster Miane Smit jumped from outside the top 100 to 76th after her half-century in the final match at Cave Hill.
Former South Africa captain Sune Luus climbed nine spots to 31st in the all-rounders’ list, thanks to strong performances with both bat and ball.
Despite these achievements, no Pakistani batter features within the top 35 in the current ICC rankings.
