ICC rankings: Meg Lanning-led Australia retain top spots in ODIs and T20Is; India 2nd and 3rd

Australia have retained top positions in the ICC Women’s Team Rankings for both ODIs and T20Is while India have overtaken New Zealand to grab third position in the T20I table, after the annual rankings update carried out on Friday.

In other noteworthy changes in the latest update, which expunges results from the 2016-17 season, weights the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons at 50% and the 2019-20 matches at 100%, South Africa have overtaken New Zealand to fourth place and Bangladesh have leapfrogged Sri Lanka to eighth in the ODI table.

Record lead for Australia in ODIs

Six-time ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup champions and winners of both editions of the ICC Women’s Championship, Australia’s stellar display during the rating period saw them win 20 of 21 ODIs, increasing their tally by eight points to 160.

Their massive lead of 39 points over second-placed India is the largest by any team (men or women) in any form of the game. It comes on the back of 3-0 series wins over India, Pakistan, New Zealand, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and an earlier 2-1 win over England at the start of the ICC Women’s Championship, only a few months after England had won the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2017.

India (121) and England (119) have lost four points each while clinging on to their second and third positions, respectively, while South Africa (107) enjoy a 13-point lead over New Zealand (94), with the West Indies (85), Pakistan (77), Bangladesh (61) and Sri Lanka (47) following in that order.

India’s gain only change in top 15 of T20Is list

The women’s T20I rankings table sees Australia and England retain the top two positions, their points tally remaining 291 and 280, respectively. India, who made the final of this year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, have overtaken New Zealand, in what is the only change in the top 15 of the 56-team list.

The biggest improvement in rankings has been registered by Brazil, who are up 11 places to 27th, after a gain of 15 rating points, while the biggest ranking fall has been for Malaysia, who are down from 31st to 38th. Samoa (up two places to 16th), Indonesia (up two places to 20th) and the United States of America (up four places to 31st) are among other teams to have made notable progress.

Three teams have lost their place on the rankings table. Denmark and Belgium have not played any matches since October 2017 while Qatar have played fewer than the required six during the period.

In the player rankings, Australia all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner and captain Meg Lanning have advanced after finishing as the leading run-scorers in their three-match home series against New Zealand that they won 2-1.

Gardner’s series-topping 90 runs, which came in only two innings, won her the player of the series award and lifted her seven places to a career best-equalling 18th position among batters. Lanning, who has been top-ranked in both ODIs and T20Is in the past, has advanced one spot to take fifth position after aggregating 71 runs, the second highest in the series.

Australia leg-spinner Georgia Wareham has reached a career best-equalling 10th position after her five wickets in the series helped her advance five places, while left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux (up two places to 13th) and seam bowler Delissa Kimmince (up eight places to 22nd) have also progressed in the bowlers’ list.

For New Zealand, former captain Suzie Bates and present captain Sophie Devine have retained their second and fourth positions, respectively, while another former captain, left-hander Amy Satterthwaite, has reentered the rankings in 35th position after finishing as the highest scorer from her side with 69 runs. Satterthwaite was on maternity leave for 18 months, during which she missed this year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

Amelia Kerr, player of the match on Wednesday, retains fourth position among bowlers while Devine has gained eight slots to reach 26th position, still a long away from her career-best fifth position attained 10 years ago.

For England, Natalie Sciver remains the only batter in the top 10 and is now second among all-rounders. Tammy Beaumont (up three places to 24th) and Amy Jones (up four places to 25th) have moved up after contributing in excess of 100 runs each in their side’s 5-0 defeat of former T20 World champions West Indies.

Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone remains in number one position after her six wickets in the series while Sarah Glenn’s series-topping seven wickets have helped her gain 12 slots and reach ninth position. Katherine Brunt’s six wickets see her gain 10 places to 12th.

West Indies’s hard-hitting opener Deandra Dottin has advanced five places to reach 15th position after amassing 185 runs in the series including two fifties while captain Stafanie Taylor has gained four places to reach 52nd position. Taylor, the leading batter from her side in eighth position, has also moved up to joint-fourth among all-rounders.

The latest rankings update also sees the German batting pair of Christina Gough (up 146 places to 69th) and Janet Ronalds (up 115 places to joint-82nd) move up after their side defeated Austria 5-0