Shafali Verma, the 16-year-old explosive India opener, and England spinner Sophie Ecclestone have not only made their mark in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 but are also ranked Number 1 in the batswomen and bowlers ranking issued by the world cricket body on Wednesday (March 4, 2020). Shafali Verma and Sophie Ecclestone will be playing in the first semifinal of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 on Thursday (March 5) at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground in Australia when India and England face off.


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Shafali’s explosive batting at the top of the order saw her score 161 runs in four innings including knocks of 47 and 46 against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, which helped her become only the second India batter after Mithali Raj to top the Women’s T20I batting rankings. India won all their four league matches to top Group A and storm into the semifinals.


The young Indian batswoman dethrones New Zealand’s Suzie Bates, who had been the top batter since October 2018 after wresting the spot from West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor.


Sophie Ecclestone, who took eight wickets in four matches including a best of three for seven against the West Indies, is the first England bowler to be number one since Anya Shrubsole in April 2016 and the first England spinner at the top since Danni Hazell in August 2015.


Some fine performances across teams saw a number of batters and bowlers move up the rankings including those who could not make it to the knockout-stage of the 10-team tournament. Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu moved from 18th to 14th spot for batters. England’s Nat Sciver is again in the top 10 and captain Heather Knight in the top 15 for the first time, South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt has advanced 23 places to 44th, Pakistan’s Aliya Riaz has gained 24 places and is 48th while New Zealand’s Maddy Green is in the top 100 after advancing 28 slots.


In the bowlers’ list, leg-spinners Amelia Kerr of New Zealand (up two places to fourth), India’s Poonam Yadav (up four places to eighth) and Australia’s George Wareham (up nine places to 10th) have all made significant gains in the latest rankings update. Other bowlers to advance include new-ball bowler Diana Baig of Pakistan (up 34 places to 13th), Shashikala Siriwardena of Sri Lanka (up seven places to 14th), Anya Shrubsole of England (up five places to 17th), Dane van Niekerk of South Africa (up 12 places to joint-22nd) and Shikha Pandey of India (up 23 places to joint-22nd).


New Zealand captain Sophie Devine is now the sole number one all-rounder after coming into the tournament as a joint number one along with Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry. India’s Deepti Sharma has advanced nine places to seventh, the first time that she is among the top 10 in the all-rounders’ list after also moving up to 53rd among batters.


Australia remain at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings with 290 points and England in second position with 278.


MRF Tyres ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings (as of 4 March after the league phase of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020)


Batswomen (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge S/R Highest Rating
1 (+19) Shafali Verma India 761! 28.52 147 761 v SL at Melbourne 2020
2 (-1) Suzie Bates NZ 750 30.3 112 770 v Pak at Guyana 2018
3 ( - ) Beth Mooney Aus 746 36.37 123 766 v India at Mumbai 2018
4 (-2) Sophie Devine NZ 742 31.36 127 749 v SL at Perth 2020
5 ( - ) Meg Lanning Aus 708 35.82 117 785 v WI at Melbourne 2014
6 (-2) S Mandhana India 701 25.44 119 732 v Aus at Melbourne 2020
7 (-1) Alyssa Healy Aus 689 24.89 130 717 v SL at Sydney 2019
8 ( - ) Stafanie Taylor WI 661 36.39 104 836 v NZ at St Lucia 2010
9 (-2) J Rodrigues India 658 27.35 112 753 v NZ at Auckland 2019
10 (+4) Natalie Sciver Eng 636! 25.9 112 636 v WI at Sydney 2020

Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge S/R Highest Rating
14 (+4) C Athapaththu SL 598! 20.08 98 598 v Ban at Melbourne 2020
15 (+7) Heather Knight Eng 590 22.78 119 593 v Pak at Canberra 2020
23 (+1) NChantam Tha 546 22.77 87 602 v Net at Deventer 2019
26 (+7) Nigar Sultana Ban 525! 23.18 88 525 v SL at Melbourne 2020
38= (+7) Katey Martin NZ 432! 18.86 112 432 v Aus at Melbourne 2020
41 (+4) M Kapp SA 426 19.3 96 492 v India at Bangalore 2014
44= (+23) L Wolvaardt SA 419*! 20.26 100 419 v Pak at Sydney 2020
48 (+24) Aliya Riaz Pak 409! 18.75 92 409 v Tha at Sydney 2020
53 (+18) Deepti Sharma India 387*! 17.72 90 387 v SL at Melbourne 2020
60 (+8) S Campbelle WI 342 14.42 83 393 v Aus at Sydney 2014

Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating
1 (+2) S Ecclestone Eng 779! 15.32 6 779 v WI at Sydney 2020
2 (-1) Megan Schutt Aus 753 15.85 5.98 806 v Pak at Guyana 2018
3 (-1) Shabnim Ismail SA 745 18.45 5.74 751 v India at Surat 2019
4 (+2) Amelia Kerr NZ 740! 19.52 5.68 740 v Aus at Melbourne 2020
5 (-1) Deepti Sharma India 723 19.39 5.86 746 v WI at Guyana 2019
6 (+2) Jess Jonassen Aus 719 20.58 5.39 722 v Ban at Canberra 2020
7 (-3) Radha Yadav India 712 16 6.21 769 v WI at Guyana 2019
8 (+4) Poonam Yadav India 704 14.22 5.61 733 v Ire at Guyana 2018
9 (-2) Ellyse Perry Aus 702 19.38 5.86 767 v NZ at Nelson 2010
10 (+9) G Wareham Aus 671*! 13.5 5.7 671 v NZ at Melbourne 2020

Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating
13 (+34) Diana Baig Pak 658! 21.57 5.68 658 v Tha at Sydney 2020
14= (+7) S Siriwardena SL 635 20.75 5.8 690 v Eng at Sylhet 2014
17 (+5) Anya Shrubsole Eng 612 14.68 5.9 755 v WI at Dharamsala 2016
19 (+18) U Prabodhani SL 609 24.42 5.15 726 v Ban at Sylhet 2014
21 (+55) Sarah Glenn Eng 587*! 12.93 5.24 587 v WI at Sydney 2020
22= (+12) D van Niekerk SA 583 20.74 5.41 645 v Eng at Paarl 2016
  (+23) Shikha Pandey India 583 23.47 6.19 594 v NZ at Melbourne 2020
28 (+37) Hayley Jensen NZ 562! 24 6.67 562 v Aus at Melbourne 2020
32= (+12) R Gayakwad India 546! 17.71 6.33 546 v SL at Melbourne 2020
39 (+3) A Mohammed WI 513 17.3 5.56 754 v India at Ahmedabad 2011
46= (+7) S Selman WI 483 26.83 5.65 561 v Ire at Dublin 2019
55= (+4) C Athapaththu SL 444 31.38 7.08 447 v Eng at Colombo (PSS) 2019
  (+19) Anna Peterson NZ 444*! 23.72 6.88 444 v Aus at Melbourne 2020
67= (+16) Aiman Anwer Pak 417* 22.3 6.75 444 v WI at Karachi 2019
71 (+30) Nicola Carey Aus 407*! 22.37 6.39 407 v NZ at Melbourne 2020
74 (+10) R.Padunglerd Tha 396* 18.15 5.21 397 v SA at Canberra 2020
96= (+18) Ritu Moni Ban 308*! 16.68 5.18 308 v SL at Melbourne 2020

All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Sophie Devine NZ 398 405 v Ban at Melbourne 2020
2 (-1) Ellyse Perry Aus 394 421 v India at Canberra 2020
3 ( - ) Natalie Sciver Eng 349! 349 v WI at Sydney 2020
4= (+1) D van Niekerk SA 304 387 v Ire at Chennai 2016
  ( - ) HMatthews WI 304 403 v NZ at Bay Oval 2018

Four-time champion Australia play South Africa in the second semifinal later on Thursday after the India-England match. Both the semifinals are at the Sydney Cricket Ground.