Australia takes sole lead in the ICC Women’s championship
Australia, which will be aiming for its fourth straight ICC Women’s World Twenty20 title in India later this month, entered the latest round of matches as Championship co-leaders with the West Indies.
But two series wins against India and New Zealand has helped it to break-away from the Caribbean side, which is now trailing by four points.
Australia beat India and New Zealand by an identical 2-1 margin to earn eight out of a possible 12 points on offer. Meg Lannings’s side came from a match down to beat New Zealand and retain the Rose bowl title for the 14th time.
Australia now has two rounds of matches remaining, which will be again South Africa and Sri Lanka.
West Indies, meanwhile, has secured second position with a 2-1 win over South Africa. The Caribbean side’s remaining two series are against fifth-placed India and sixth-placed England.
The Proteas hold on to fourth spot in the Championship table despite losing both outings against England and the West Indies.
The significance of the ICC Women’s Championship lies in the fact that it is a qualifying tournament for the ICC Women’s World Cup July 2017. The top four sides from the ICC Women’s Championship will obtain automatic qualification for the event proper to be staged in England, while the bottom four sides will get a final chance of qualification through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier earlier in 2017.
Leader Australia seems certain to make the cut for qualification, along with the West Indies. The bottom two sides Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in contrast, will have to run a very tough race if they want to move back in contention. In the middle of the table, New Zealand, South Africa, England and India are neck and neck in a battle for the other two World Cup qualification spots.
Sixth-placed England has three games in hand, giving it the upper hand as well as a very strong chance to finish inside the top four. England’s next three rounds will feature contests against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the West Indies.
India, meanwhile, was impressive against Australia, pulling one game back against the top-ranked side in an away series. This was followed by a three-nil series win against Sri Lanka at home, allowing the Asian team to move up the rankings from seventh to fifth. Nevertheless, Mithali Raj’s side is still not assured of a World Cup qualification.
India will need to win both its final two rounds against the West Indies and Pakistan to put pressure on the other leading contenders.
Individual player performances have been in keeping with team performances, as Australia’s Meg Lanning leads the run-scorers table with 920 runs, including four centuries and four half-tons. Lanning has played in all of Australia’s 15 matches so far, and averages an impressive 70.
Suzie Bates of New Zealand is third with 686 runs, while Chamari Atapattu is Sri Lanka’s best performer in sixth place with 493 runs. India’s teenager Smriti Mandhana is her sides leading run-getter with 438 runs in 13 matches.
Australia’s spinner Jess Jonassen is the leading wicket-taker in the championship to date with an impressive haul of 25 wickets at an average of 17.
Anisa Mohammed of the West Indies, Shabnim Ismail of South Africa and Heather Knight are not far behind with 24, 22 and 20 wickets, respectively.
Australia’s dominance in the ICC Women’s Championship is also reflected in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Women’s Player rankings, with Australian captain Meg Lanning holding on to her number-one spot in the women’s batting rankings.
Bates has retained her second position, while India captain Mithali Raj is in third. West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor is in fifth, while England captain Charlotte Edwards is in seventh. South African Trisha Chetty and West Indies’ Deandra Dottin have both edged their way into the top 10. This is a career-best ranking for Chetty, who has scored an impressive 482 runs in the championship to date.
A look at some selected rankings shows South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp has moved up two spots to 23rd, Jessica Cameron and Smriti Mandhana have gained one spot each to rise to 21 and 22 respectively. Shemaine Campbelle of the West Indies has had an impressive eight spots jump to land at 38th.
Amongst the bowlers, India’s Jhulan Goswami has held her number-one position. Katherine Brunt of England has moved up two spots to third, Ellyse Perry is up a place to fifth, while West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor has dropped three positions moving to sixth.
Marizanne Kapp who has taken 16 wickets in the Championship to date, has moved up three spots to 14th, while Hayley Matthews of the West Indies, who has 15 Championship wickets so far, has been rewarded with a six-spot jump to 41st.
The ICC Women’s Championship is back in action in June when Pakistan will travel to England and South Africa will host New Zealand.
Following is the schedule of forthcoming matches in ICC Women’s Championship:
England vs Pakistan
20 June – 1st ODI, Grace Road, Leicester
22 June – 2nd ODI, County Ground, Derby
27 June – 3rd ODI, County Ground, Derby
South Africa vs New Zealand
8 Oct – 1st ODI, De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley
11 Oct – 2nd ODI, De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley
13 Oct – 3rd ODI, De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley
| ICC Women’s Championship 2014 – 2016 | |||||||
| Teams | P | W | L | Tie | N/R | Points | NRR |
| Australia | 15 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 | +0.745 |
| West Indies | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | +0.497 |
| New Zealand | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 16 | +0.232 |
| South Africa | 15 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 15 | -0.069 |
| India | 15 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 13 | +0.008 |
| England | 12 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 13 | -0.022 |
| Pakistan | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -0.386 |
| Sri Lanka | 15 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 5 | -1.152 |
Note – two points for a win, no point for a loss and one point for a no-result
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Women’s Player Rankings (as on 3 March):
Batting
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Ranking
1 ( - ) Meg Lanning Aus 834! 50.57 834 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016
2 ( - ) Suzie Bates NZ 775! 40.50 775 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016
3 ( - ) Mithali Raj Ind 722 49.54 839 v Aus at Baroda Vadodar 2004
4 ( - ) Ellyse Perry Aus 717 42.48 725 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016
5 ( - ) Stafanie Taylor WI 690 45.63 765 v Ind at St Kitts (WP) 2012
6 ( - ) Sarah Taylor Eng 680 39.76 803 v Aus at Chelmsford 2009
7 ( - ) C Edwards Eng 679 38.16 749 v NZ at Lincoln 2015
8 ( - ) Alex Blackwell Aus 663 34.71 683 v Ind at Canberra 2008
9 ( - ) H Kaur Ind 630 35.57 678 v SA at Bangalore 2014
10= (+2) Trisha Chetty SA 583! 31.63 583 v WI at East London 2016
(+1) Deandra Dottin WI 583 28.28 650 v NZ at Kingston 2013
Selected Others:
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Highest Ranking
19= ( - ) M du Preez SA 507 31.00 540 v SL at Potchefstroom 2013
(+1) C Jayangani SL 507 30.39 581 v NZ at Lincoln 2015
21 (+1) J Cameron Aus 492 37.20 660 v Pak at Brisbane 2014
22 (+1) S Mandhana Ind 490* 32.25 507 v SL at Ranchi 2016
23 (+2) Marizanne Kapp SA 484 29.67 539 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014
32 (+1) P Weerakkody SL 38*! 18.95 388 v Ind at Ranchi 2016
33 (+1) E Kaushalya SL 375 15.58 482 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
34 (+1) Natalie Sciver Eng 372* 34.20 428 v Aus at Taunton 2015
35 (+1) Rumana Ahmed Ban 368* 26.56 384 v Pak at Karachi 2015
36 (-4) Kycia Knight WI 367* 19.51 404 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2015
37 ( - ) Hayley Matthews WI 362* 28.00 391 v SA at East London 2016
38 (+8) S Campbelle WI 356 19.75 403 v NZ at St Kitts (WP) 2014
Bowling
Rank (+/-) Player
1 ( - ) Jhulan Goswami Ind 730 21.78 3.18 796 v Eng at Chennai 2007
2 ( - ) A Mohammed WI 638 17.99 3.26 704 v Aus at Sydney 2014
3 (+2) Katherine Brunt Eng 635 23.82 3.38 796 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
4 ( - ) Shibnam Ismail SA 615 19.27 3.53 641 v Eng at Johannesburg 2016
5 (+1) Ellyse Perry Aus 609 24.53 4.32 698 v Ind at Mumbai 2012
6 (-3) Stafanie Taylor WI 606 18.72 3.10 768 v NZ at Kingston 2013
7 ( - ) Jenny Gunn Eng 577 27.80 3.78 693 v Ind at Scarborough 2014
8 ( - ) D van Niekerk SA 564* 17.23 3.35 583 v Ind at Bangalore 2014
9 ( - ) Sana Mir Pak 550 25.10 3.46 610 v SA at Sharjah 2015
10 ( - ) Jess Jonassen Aus 537*! 21.23 4.26 537 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016
Selected Others:
Rank (+/-) Player
11 ( - ) Morna Nielsen NZ 532* 26.88 3.68 546 v Ind at Bangalore 2015
12 ( - ) Megan Schutt Aus 521* 22.21 4.33 526 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016
13 ( - ) Danielle Hazell Eng 517* 33.07 3.88 545 v NZ at Lincoln 2015
14 (+3) Marizanne Kapp SA 515* 26.30 3.70 533 v Ind at Bangalore 2014
15 ( - ) Sarah Coyte Aus 507* 22.27 4.14 509 v Eng at Worcester 2015
18 ( - ) R Gayakwad Ind 491* 18.53 3.11 493 v SL at Ranchi 2016
31 (+1) Rene Farrell Aus 378* 31.42 4.02 456 v Eng at Perth 2011
41 (+6) Hayley Matthews WI 324*! 21.89 3.90 324 v SA at East London 2016
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Ranking
1 (+1) Ellyse Perry Aus 437 446 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016
2 (-1) Stafanie Taylor WI 418 560 v NZ at Kingston 2013
3 ( - ) Suzie Bates NZ 336! 336 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016
4 ( - ) Jhulan Goswami Ind 288 308 v Aus at Canberra 2016
5 ( - ) Dane V Niekerk SA 268 /* 284 v Eng at Centurion 2016
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