20 Mar Devine Still T20 World No.1
Sophie Devine remains at the summit of the Women’s T20 Player Index despite coming under pressure from Australia’s Beth Mooney during the World Cup.
The New Zealand allrounder – who hit top spot after the Big Bash – scored 132 runs, took three wickets and claimed a trio of catches as her country narrowly failed to reach the knock-out stage.
Ellyse Perry’s hamstring injury which forced her out of the semi-final and the final meant she was unable to put pressure on Devine at the top of the rankings.
Teammate Mooney cemented her place in third but closed the gap in term of points, after finishing as the leading run-scorer as Australia scooped their fifth world title.
The 26-year-old scored 259 runs at 64.75 and complete five catches in six matches to scoop the Player of the Tournament prize.
Jess Jonassen’s 3-20 and Alyssa Healy’s spectacular 75 both in the final helped them make gains in the top 10.
Healy finished the World Cup with a formidable strike-rate of 156.29 and the most boundaries (28 fours and nine sixes).
Aussie skipper Meg Lanning has climbed to 16th while top wicket-taker Megan Schutt (13 wickets at 10.30) is up to 18th.
Australia’s command of women’s T20 cricket is reflected by their dominance of the rankings, which sees them with 34 entries in the top 100.
Elsewhere, sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma was one of the stand-out performers for finalists India and is now up to 102nd in the rankings having not been part of the rankings a year ago, with a top 50 place beckoning.
Despite failing to reach the final, England’s players made decent progress up the standings. Though highest-ranked player Danni Wyatt slipped to sixth, Nat Sciver remains in eighth. The pair are joined in the top 10 by captain Heather Knight who scored 193 runs in four innings at a strike-rate of 136.87.
Meanwhile, spin pair Sophie Ecclestone (22nd) and Sarah Glenn (89th) took eight and six wickets respectively during the competition to help improve their positions.
To see the women’s Index rankings please click here.