Deepti Sharma climbs to second spot

Mandhana slips in ICC Women’s T20I rankings Dubai, Aug 13: India’s Deepti Sharma inched closer to the top spot after rising to second place in the latest ICC Women’s T20I bowling rankings, while opener Smriti Mandhana slipped to the second position among batters. Deepti, who now shares the spot with Pakistan’s Sadia Iqbal, has climbed to No.2 with a 732 rating, four points behind Australia’s Annabel Sutherland, who became the No.1 ranked T20I bowler for the first time. It was Iqbal who lost rating points and relinquished the top spot after taking just three wickets in the series against Ireland which Pakistan women lost 1-2. Sutherland hasn’t featured in the shortest format since she took a four-wicket haul against New Zealand in March, but her rating points (736) remains unchanged as a group of bowlers near the top of the rankings lost points across the last week. Deepti stayed at the third position in the T20I allrounder’s list with 387 rating points, behind West Indies’ Hayley Matthews (505) and New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr (434). Stylish southpaw Smriti Mandhana slipped a spot to the second place with 728 rating points, behind England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt (731). India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur jumped 10 places to be knocking on the top 10 door. She is currently ranked 11th. Among others, in-form Ireland all-rounder Orla Prendergast has been rewarded for some strong performances against Pakistan by reaching new career-high 19th in the latest ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings. Prendergast was in sublime form for Ireland during their recent 2-1 series triumph over Pakistan, with the 23-year-old making excellent contributions with bat and ball to deservedly claim the Player of the Series award. The right-hander amassed 144 runs across the three matches at an average of 72 and chipped in with four valuable wickets with her more than handy medium pacers. @@@