Gardner top all-rounder in ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings

Dubai [UAE], December 27 (ANI): Australia all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner has grabbed the No.1 position for all-rounders in the ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings after a match-winning performance in the final T20I of the five-match series against India that her team won 4-1.

Gardner, who was named Player of the Match after her effort of 66 not out off 32 balls and a haul of two for 20, has topped the all-rounders’ list for the first time after moving up three spots. She has overtaken West Indies captain Hayley Matthews, India’s Deepti Sharma and New Zealand captain Sophie Devine, who was at the top through the past year. Sophie Devine (389) and Deepti Sharma (387) are in second and third place, respectively, while Gardner (417) has a significant lead over them.

Hayley Matthews (381) is in fourth place, moving down two spots. Stafanie Taylor (235) and fellow countrywoman Ellyse Perry (231) are passed by Tahlia McGrath, who moves up two spots to 10th (248) as read in a statement released by ICC.

Gardner, who finished the series with 115 runs and seven wickets, is also up two places to a career-best seventh position among batters and progressed three places to a career-best 14th among bowlers in the latest weekly update that also considers performances in the last match of the West Indies-England series.

Deepti Sharma’s 34-ball 53 against Australia sees her move up three places to 29th in the batting rankings while England’s Nat Sciver and India’s Richa Ghosh have moved up one place each to occupy 15th and 39th positions, respectively. Grace Harris’s unbeaten 64 off 35 deliveries in Mumbai has lifted her 33 places to 61st position.

In the bowling rankings, England seamer Freya Davies has moved up 23 places to 26th position after a haul of three for two against the West Indies while Australia’s Darcie Brown is up six places to joint-33rd in the list. England’s Issy Wong (up 25 places to 77th) and Windies off-spinner Karishma Ramharack (up five places to 80th) are others to make notable gains.