India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana climbed up to the third spot in the ICC T20I Rankings for batters following her maiden century in the 1st T20I match against England on Saturday. The batter, who is already the No.1 ODI batter had led the side against England in the absence of the injured Harmanpreet Kaur.
Though the left-handed batter said after the match that the T20I format wasn’t her forte, it was a statement the cricket experts would take with a pinch of salt. The India vice-captain’s power-hitting was on full display as she collected most of her boundaries on the off-side, while her three maximums came on the on-side.
Mandhana smacked 15 fours and three sixes to make 112 off 62 balls to power India to a 97-run victory against England at Nottingham, which was also the biggest defeat in terms of runs for the hosts in the shortest format. The left-handed Indian opener now has a career-high of 771 rating points and is ranked third, behind West Indies’ Hayley Matthews, who is second with 774 points, and Australia’s Beth Mooney at the top with 794 points.
Among other Indian batters, comeback opener Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol also made gains.
“Fellow Indian opener Shafali Verma gains one place to move to 13th on the same rankings list following her innings of 20 in the same match against England, while teammate Harleen Deol re-enters the batter rankings in equal 86th after a quickfire knock of 43,” the ICC said in a release.
Meanwhile, England fast bowler Lauren Bell moved up two places to reach fourth in the rankings for bowlers after her three-wicket haul in the first T20I against India.
The ICC added, “Pakistan spinner Sadia Iqbal remains at the top of the list for T20I bowlers, but it’s tight at the top with just 44 rating points separating the top 10 players.” South Africa’s Miane Smit moved to 76th with her maiden half-century against the West Indies while teammate Sune Luus moved up nine spots to reach 31 in list of the all-rounders.
(With agency inputs)
