India all-rounder Deepti Sharma has climbed to second place and has the top position, currently held by England’s Sophie Ecclestone, in her sights in the most recent ICC T20I bowling rankings announced on Tuesday.
Deepti has moved up one spot to 737 points, and South African left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba also moved up one spot to occupy third place with 732 points.
The 25-year-old off-spinner has reduced the England left-arm spinner’s lead to just 26 rating points in the ongoing Women’s T20I Tri-series in South Africa, where she leads the list of wicket-takers with nine scalps.
Deepti moved up one spot to 737 points, and South African left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba, who has taken four wickets in the Tri-series, moved up another spot to 732 points, which puts him in third place.
If the duo maintains their current form, they could replace Sophie ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup, which begins on February 10 in South Africa.
The T20I Tri-series final will take place Thursday in East London between South Africa and India.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad, a left-arm spinner for India, has also moved up four spots and is now 14th on the list of T20I bowlers.
This week, bowlers moved a lot within the top 10, with Australia pacer Megan Schutt moving up six spots to fifth and England seamer Katherine Sciver-Brunt moving up two locations to sixth.
Tahlia McGrath, an Australia right-hander, remained stable at the top of the T20I batting rankings, with classy South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt, a top-order performer, among the biggest movers behind her.
After a solid start for the Tri-series against India and the West Indies, Laura moved up four spots to ninth, and teammate Tazmin Brits moved up 10 places to 18th after scoring a remarkable fifty last week.
On the most recent T20I batters rankings, West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews rose four spots to number 22 overall.
After scoring a half-century in the match against Pakistan, veteran Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry moved up to the 10th spot, marking the only change within the top 10.