TORONTO
The battle to reach the top of the ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings is closer than ever ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
The tournament gets underway on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates, with 10 countries battling it out to be crowned world champions on October 20, 2024. While full focus will be on powering their teams to glory, some players will also have their eyes on topping the ICC batting, bowling, and all-rounder rankings come the end of the month.
Just 22 points currently separate the top five batters, with West Indies’ Hayley Matthews leading the charge to become the first non-Australian in three years to reach the summit. She will have to get past Australia’s Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath to do so, with Mooney currently leading the way on 757 points, nine ahead of her compatriot and former No.1 McGrath.
Mooney showed why she is the one to beat with an impressive 30-ball half century in Australia’s warm-up match against England last week. Matthews is a further two points behind with a career-high 746, with India’s Smriti Mandhana also in contention on 743, while Laura Wolvaardt is not far behind on 735.
Big performances from any of the top five could shake up the individual standings with so little to choose between each player. There are six countries represented in the top ten, with Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu just nine points off the 700-point barrier while New Zealand pair Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine are ninth and tenth respectively.
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana makes it seven countries in the top 13 batters; she is the first female Bangladesh batter to accrue over 600 points.
