Jhulan Goswami back at the top of ODI rankings

India fast bowler Jhulan Goswami has seized back the top position for bowlers in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings after playing an important role in a 2-1 home series win over England in the ICC Women’s Championship.

Goswami, who last held the top spot in February 2017, finished with eight wickets in the series while helping her team reach the second position in the eight-team championship that provides direct qualification berths to hosts New Zealand and four other top teams in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021.

The latest rankings update also takes into account performances of another ICC Women’s Championship series that saw defending champions Australia score a facile 3-0 win over New Zealand to move closer to clinching a direct berth as they are now at the top with 22 points from 12 matches. India are second with 16 from 15 while New Zealand are on 14 from 15. Reigning World champions England are behind South Africa in fifth position, with 12 points from 12 matches.

Goswami, the most successful bowler in ODIs with 218 wickets, has inched closer to the record for the most number of days at the top. She has now been number one for 1873 days, with only retired Australia fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick having spent more time at the top, for 2113 days.

Goswami’s new-ball partner Shikha Pandey has gained 12 spots to reach fifth position after also finishing with eight wickets against England. It is for the first time in nine years that two India bowlers are in the top five after Goswami and Rumeli Dhar were in that bracket in 2010.

Stylish left-handed opener Smriti Mandhana, who is the leading run-scorer in the current edition of the ICC Women’s Championship with 837 runs, has consolidated her position at the top with a career-best 797 points. The last time Indians topped both the batting and bowling lists was in March 2012, when Mithali Raj and Goswami led the tables.

In another important movement, Natalie Sciver has advanced 10 slots to reach a career-best fifth place after scoring 130 runs in the series, second only to Mandhana’s 153. Sciver’s previous best was seventh position, in July 2017. Her compatriot Danielle Wyatt has gained seven slots to reach a career-best 34th position.

Other players to move up in the rankings update include Australia’s Alyssa Healy (up one place to 15th) and Rachael Haynes (up seven places to 21st) and New Zealand’s Sophie Devine (up two places to 10th) and Katie Perkins (up six places to 31st) among batters.

Among bowlers, Jess Jonnasen of Australia (up two places to second) and Sophie Ecclestone of England (up four places to 20th) are the notable movers while the all-rounders’ list sees Sciver gain two places to fifth and Devine move up three places to seventh.

In an upcoming series starting 16 March, England would be looking to overtake India with a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka, who are at the bottom of the table with only one win from 12 matches.

For Sri Lanka, captain and aggressive left-handed batter Chamari Athapaththu will be looking to get back into the top 10 from her present 11th position while former captain Inoka Ranaweera would be similarly hoping to improve her position from the 20th place that she currently occupies.

Some highlights of the ODI rankings:

Batting

· Amy Satterthwaite (NZ) up one place to third

· Mithali Raj (Ind) up one place to fourth

· Natalie Sciver (Eng) up 10 places to fifth

· Sophie Devine (NZ) up two places to 10th

· Heather Knight (Eng) up one place to 12th

· Alyssa Healy (Aus) up one place to 15th

· Rachael Haynes (Aus) up seven places to 21st

· Beth Mooney (Aus) up three places to 23rd

· Katie Perkins (NZ) up six places to 31st

· Danielle Wyatt (Eng) up seven places to 34th

· Jess Jonassen (Aus) up eight places to 49th

· Jemimah Rodrigues (Ind) up 10 places to 49th

· Poonam Yadav (Ind) up five places to 64th

· Georgia Elwiss (Eng) up 14 places to 74th

Bowling

· Jhulan Goswami (Ind) up two places to first

· Jess Jonassen (Aus) up two places to second

· Shikha Pandey (Ind) up 12 places to fifth

· Ellyse Perry (Aus) up one place to ninth

· Ashley Gardner (Aus) up two places to 18th

· Sophie Ecclestone (Eng) up four places to 20th

· Sophie Devine (NZ) up 10 places to 32nd

· Natalie Sciver (Eng) up two places to 35th

· Georgia Elwiss (Eng) up 13 places to 41st

· Georgia Wareham (Aus) up 41 places to 66th

· Hayley Jensen (NZ) up 10 places to 69th

Upcoming fixtures

Sri Lanka v England: 16 and 18 March (Hambantota); 21 March (Katunayake)

ICC Women’s Championship results, statistics, points standings and fixtures are available here

MRF Tyres ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings (as of 4 March, 2019)

Batters (top 20)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 ( - ) S. Mandhana India 797! 42.41 797 v Eng at Mumbai 2019

2 ( - ) Ellyse Perry Aus 756 51.84 773 v India at Vadodara 2018

3 (+1) A.Satterthwaite NZ 755 38.98 777 v Aus at Bay Oval 2017

4 (+1) Mithali Raj India 713 51.29 878 v Aus at Baroda Vadodar 2004

5= (+3) Stafanie Taylor Win 695 43.96 785 v India at St Kitts (WP) 2012

(+10) Natalie Sciver Eng 695 38.40 712 v India at Mumbai 2019

7 (-4) Meg Lanning Aus 691 51.14 878 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016

8 (-2) T. Beaumont Eng 687 40.10 706 v NZ at Leicester 2018

9 (-2) Suzie Bates NZ 679 42.64 796 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016

10 (+2) Sophie Devine NZ 678! 32.17 678 v Aus at Melbourne 2019

11 (-1) C. Athapaththu SL 673 31.64 691 v SA at Potchefstroom 2019

12 (+1) Heather Knight Eng 670 36.65 678 v NZ at Headingley 2018

13 (-2) Lizelle Lee SA 664 33.69 774 v Eng at Hove 2018

14 ( - ) D van Niekerk SA 650 36.57 677 v SL at Potchefstroom 2019

15= (-6) Nicole Bolton Aus 636 43.93 728 v India at Vadodara 2018

(+1) Alyssa Healy Aus 636! 24.76 636 v NZ at Melbourne 2019

17 ( - ) Deepti Sharma India 617 41.81 626 v NZ at Hamilton 2019

18 ( - ) L. Wolvaardt SA 615 43.79 633 v Win at Bridgetown 2018

19 (+1) Deandra Dottin Win 601 28.33 700 v NZ at Kingston 2013

20 (-1) H. Kaur India 572 34.52 720 v Eng at Lord's 2017

Bowlers (top 20)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating

1 (+2) J. Goswami India 730 21.34 3.25 816 v Eng at Chennai 2007

2 (+2) Jess Jonassen Aus 723 22.05 4.17 730 v NZ at Adelaide 2019

3 (-2) Sana Mir Pak 718 24.68 3.68 719 v Win at Dubai (GCA) 2019

4 (-2) M Schutt Aus 690 23.69 4.39 721 v Pak at Kuala Lumpur 2018

5 (+12) Shikha Pandey India 688*! 20.50 3.90 688 v Eng at Mumbai 2019

6 (+1) Katherine Brunt Eng 681 23.38 3.48 811 v India at Mumbai 2013

7 (-2) M. Kapp SA 678 24.11 3.67 735 v India at Potchefstroom (N 2017

8 (-2) Shibnam Ismail SA 663 20.53 3.60 699 v Eng at Worcester 2018

9 (+1) Ellyse Perry Aus 657 26.12 4.37 738 v India at Mumbai 2012

10 (-1) Poonam Yadav India 656*! 21.09 3.80 656 v Eng at Mumbai 2019

11 (-3) Deepti Sharma India 630 27.39 3.87 650 v Eng at Mumbai 2019

12 (-1) Ekta Bisht India 620 21.28 3.65 659 v Pak at Derby 2017

13 (-1) Anya Shrubsole Eng 614 27.52 4.25 654 v Aus at New South Wales 2017

14= (-1) D. van Niekerk SA 597 19.28 3.52 661 v Ban at Kimberley 2018

(-1) Stafanie Taylor Win 597 19.50 3.28 798 v NZ at St Kitts (WP) 2014

16 (-1) Lea Tahuhu NZ 588 31.24 4.33 610 v Aus at Perth 2019

17 (-1) A. Khaka SA 581 28.00 4.13 676 v Eng at Worcester 2018

18= (-1) Leigh Kasperek NZ 554* 18.98 3.82 564 v India at Hamilton 2019

(+2) A. Gardner Aus 554* 27.17 4.32 556 v NZ at Perth 2019

20= (+1) I. Ranaweera SL 542 28.30 4.25 546 v Pak at Dambulla 2018

(-1) Amelia Kerr NZ 542* 22.17 4.25 558 v Eng at Headingley 2018

All-rounders (top five)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating

1 ( - ) Ellyse Perry Aus 496 504 v India at Hobart 2016

2 ( - ) Stafanie Taylor Win 414 602 v NZ at Kingston 2013

3= (+1) D van Niekerk SA 388 421 v SL at Potchefstroom 2019

( - ) Deepti Sharma India 388 397 v NZ at Hamilton 2019

5 (+2) Natalie Sciver Eng 302/*! 302 v India at Mumbai 2019