Australia’s Beth Mooney has regained her numero uno spot in the ICC T20I rankings for batters after leading the runs chart in the first-ever women’s T20I competition held at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.
Mooney, who had lost her standing to skipper Meg Lanning in the previous update to the rankings, is back at the top of the ladder after playing knocks of substance throughout the CWG T20I, which Australia finished with the gold medal in their bag.
She made an unbeaten 70 against Pakistan during the group stage and backed that up with 36 in the semifinal versus New Zealand and a match-winning 61 in the final against the Indians in Edgbaston. Her tournament tally of 179 runs enabled Mooney’s return to the top, especially with No.2 Lanning not enjoying the best of campaigns. She collected only 91 runs.
Tahlia McGrath at No.5 and Alyssa Healy at No.9 are the other Australians part of the top 10 rank batters in women’s T20I cricket. The list features three of Aussies’ Indian counterparts, with elegant opening batter Smriti Mandhana leading the pack at No.4.
Mandhana was the star performer for the Indians throughout the competition and scored 159 runs from her five innings at an average of 39.75 while recording an eye-catching strike-rate of 151.42. Her tally featured two half-centuries, including a record fastest for the Indian women’s team in the semifinal against England.
Mandhana’s opening partner Shafali Verma wasn’t at her best and averaged only 26.60 for the tournament. She retains herself in the top 10, however, at No.6 after scoring her 133 runs at a strike-rate of 144.56.
Perhaps India’s biggest positive from the campaign was the resurgence of young Jemimah Rodrigues, who showed encouraging signs of finally coming up with her best in the national colours.
The young right-hand batter struck 146 runs in the CWG 2022, including an unbeaten 56, while averaging 73 for the competition. She also made a run-a-ball 33 in the final against the Australians to raise India’s hopes of securing a win.
