Smriti Mandhana reaches career-high rating in ICC T20I Rankings

India’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has reached a career-best 771 rating points in the ICC Women’s T20I Batter Rankings, climbing to third position after her scintillating century against England.

With this latest rise, Mandhana is now within touching distance of the top ranking, trailing West Indies’ Hayley Matthews (774 points) and Australia’s Beth Mooney (794 points).

Her explosive knock of 112 runs off 62 balls in the first T20I at Nottingham was not only her maiden T20I hundred but also instrumental in India’s massive 97-run victory.

Standing in as captain in place of the injured Harmanpreet Kaur, Mandhana led from the front, hitting 15 boundaries and three sixes in a commanding display of stroke play.

Already the No.1 ranked batter in ODIs, Mandhana’s new peak in T20Is reflects her consistency and dominance across formats. With four more matches remaining in the T20I series against England, she now has a real opportunity to become the top-ranked batter in both ODIs and T20Is.

The impressive showing in Nottingham also resulted in upward movement for other Indian players. Shafali Verma, Mandhana’s opening partner, rose one spot to 13th in the T20I rankings after a steady 20-run knock.

Harleen Deol, making a comeback, re-entered the rankings at joint 86th position thanks to her quickfire 43, which helped India post a challenging total.

While India’s batting unit made headlines, England’s Lauren Bell made gains with the ball. The tall pacer’s three-wicket haul against India lifted her to fourth place in the T20I bowling rankings.