Australia women's cricket team captain Meg Lanning is the new No.1-ranked T20I batter in the world after the 30-year-old replaced teammate Beth Mooney at the top in the latest ICC Women's T20I Player Rankings release on Tuesday.
Lanning was the eye-catching mover as she jumped one place to take Mooney's top spot on the back of her stellar tri-series against Pakistan and Ireland.Although some poor weather in Ireland put a dampener on much of the series, Lanning showed her class to finish as the leading run-getter with 113 runs from two innings for her country.
Her best effort came against Ireland in Bready when she scored a quick-fire 74 from just 49 deliveries to help Australia post a huge total of 182/4 in yet another easy victory.In that same match, Mooney managed just nine and that proved pivotal in the rankings re-shuffle, with Lanning jumping a total of 10 rating points to catapult herself in front of her left-handed teammate.
Fellow Australian Tahlia McGrath was also a big mover on the latest batter rankings, with the talented 26-year-old rising 15 places to 13th overall on the back of her own half-century against Ireland.South Africa trio Laura Wolvaardt (14th), Anne Bosch (21st) and Tazmin Brits (equal 24th) also made giant strides on the list for batters despite the Proteas' disappointing series loss to England away from home.
England warmed up for the upcoming Commonwealth Games by cruising to a 3-0 series sweep of South Africa earlier this week and veteran pacer Katherine Brunt was the main benefactor.Brunt finished as the joint leading wicket-taker for the series with five scalps and rose four spots to third on the rankings for bowlers behind England teammates Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn.
Ecclestone also took five wickets for the series to further extend her lead at the top of the T20I bowling rankings, while her heroics with the bat in the final match of the series saw the 23-year-old jump four spots to 16th on the list for all-rounders.
Australia spinner Jess Jonassen rises four spots to sixth on the list for bowlers, while teammate Ashleigh Gardner jumps three places to seventh on the all-rounder rankings.