England captain Charlie Dean and her New Zealand counterpart Amelia Kerr headline this week’s ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings update following the closely contested opener of their ICC Women’s Championship series.
Dean’s all-round performance, which saw her take two wickets and score an unbeaten 31, led England to a one-wicket win in Durham on Monday. The performance has helped her to enter the top 10 of the ODI bowlers’ list at number 10, unseating Kerr after a six-slot rise. Dean is also up to 11th among all-rounders.
Kerr may have slipped in the bowlers’ list but her knock of 55 from 82 deliveries and a haul of two for 54 sees her jump four slots to 11th in the Women’s ODI Batting Rankings and she maintains her fourth position among the all-rounders.
The skipper shared a 105-run, fourth-wicket partnership with Maddy Green, who steadied the White Ferns’ innings with 88 from 107 balls. She has advanced two places to seventh in the batters’ list. Their teammate Rosemary Mair has progressed 12 slots to 34th and a career-best 434 rating points among the bowlers.
There were advancements following the completion of Pakistan’s ICC Women’s Championship series against Zimbabwe where the hosts claimed a 3-0 sweep over the visitors in Karachi.
Pakistan captain Fatima Sana and right-arm off-spinner Rameen Shamim advanced three and 12 places respectively to 23rd and 41st in the bowling rankings, while their teammates – the bowling trio of Sadaf Shamas (up 24 slots to joint 48th), Aliya Riaz (up four places to 54th) and Gull Feroza (advanced 127 slots to 75th) have made noteworthy gains for the hosts.
There were rewards for Zimbabwe’s stars, Kelis Ndhlovu and Beloved Biza among the batters. The former has moved eight slots to 57th and career-best rating points of 422 while the latter has leapt 11 spaces to 63rd and a personal best of 405 rating points.
loot
Rugby was originally called something else entirely – If historians are to be believed, the game we now know as rugby was initially played over 2,000 years ago by the Romans. The game was known by the Latin name Harpastum, derived from the Greek term for seize, which seems rather apt given the aim of the game.
True Sweetness
Sport Trivia: Where did Naas Botha play his first test match for South Africa? Answer: Wanderers – Naas Botha was selected to play for South Africa at Rugby Union after playing for the SA Under 20 squad. He made his debut against South America on 26 April 1980 at the Wanderers Stadium, recognised as a cricket ground. This was due to the fact that Ellis Park had been demolished in 1979 to be rebuilt.