Dubai [UAE], August 13 (ANI): A strong start to Sri Lanka’s tour of Ireland has helped batter Harshitha Samarawickrama reach new highs in the rankings.
Samarawickrama has continued her impressive recent run of form. She played a major role in helping Sri Lanka to the Women’s Asia Cup title last month.
The 26-year-old made a flying start to her side’s tour of Ireland with an unbeaten 86* in the opening match of that series in Dublin.
The rich vein of form has helped Samarawickrama gain four spots on the latest T20I rankings and she is on career-best 16th.
Australia’s Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath and West Indies all-rounder Hayley Matthews occupy top three spots in the ICC T20I Women’s Rankings among batters.
There is also some joy for a pair of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, with Udeshika Prabodhani (up two places to 22nd) and Sugandika Kumari (up one spot to 26th) making gains in the updated rankings.
England’s Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn and India’s Deepti Sharma occupy top-three spots among bowlers in the T20I rankings.
Prabodhani picked up figures of 1/20 in a match against Ireland to boost her rating, while Kumari was just as impressive with a spell of 1/23 during the seven-wicket triumph.
There has also been some change near the top of the ODI rankings following the recent completion of the tri-series between Scotland, Papua New Guinea and the Netherlands, as per the ICC.
Opener Saskia Horley was the leading run-scorer in that tri-series with a decent haul of 214 runs. The Scotland right-hander gained 60 places to move up to 47th overall on the updated list for ODI batters.
Her teammate Darcey Carter rose from outside the top 100 to 63rd on the same list, while Papua New Guinea duo Tanya Ruma (up 41 places to 53rd) and Pauke Siaka (up 19 spots to equal 64th) made some decent gains following some good scores during the tri-series.
England’s Nat Sciver Brunt, South Africa’s Laura Woolvardt and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu are among top three batters in ODI rankings.
Netherlands pacer Iris Zwilling (up 13 rungs to 32nd) was among the big movers on the updated rankings for ODI bowlers following her eight wickets at the tri-series, while Scotland spinner Abtaha Maqsood improved 24 spots to rise to 62nd after her series-best 10 scalps.
Among bowlers, England’s Ecclestone, Kate Cross and Australia’s Megan Schutt occupy the top three spots in ODIs. (ANI)
