Top Ranking Within Sight As South Africa Skipper Laura Wolvaardt Makes Rapid Rise

Top ranking within sight as South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt makes rapid rise (Image Source: IANS)

T20I Player Rankings: South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt has been rewarded for her recent good form by rising to a career-high rating on the latest ICC Women's T20I Player Rankings.

Wolvaardt scored a match-winning unbeaten 49* in the third and final game of South Africa's recent T20I series against Bangladesh and moved up two places on the updated rankings for batters to third place overall and a career-best rating of 723 points.

It means Wolvaardt only has Australia duo Tahlia McGrath and Beth Mooney ahead of her on the latest T20I rankings and the pair are within sight for the South Africa opener with just 71 rating points between the top three batters.

Wolvaardt wasn't the only mover near the top of the T20I rankings for batters, with New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates rising two places to sixth after an unbeaten half-century against Pakistan in Queenstown and England duo Natalie Sciver-Brunt (up three places to 13th) and skipper Heather Knight (up six places to 29) making some ground following some good efforts against India.

There was also some movement behind top-ranked England spinner Sophie Ecclestone at the top of the T20 rankings for bowlers, with Pakistan left-armer Sadia Iqbal jumping six spots to fourth overall and India seamer Renuka Singh improving seven places to equal sixth.

New Zealand duo Eden Carson (up three places to 13th) and Amelia Kerr (up four spots to 14th) also make some ground, while England youngster Charlie Dean improves a whooping 26 places to 19th overall following her good series against India.

West Indies star Hayley Matthews remains the top-ranked all-rounder in T20I cricket, but Kerr has closed the gap after she jumped one place to second following the completion of New Zealand's series with Pakistan.