Rabeya moves up in Women’s T20 bowling rankings

Bangladesh leg-spinner Rabeya Khan got the reward of her consistent performance as she moved up to ninth place in ICC Women’s T20 bowling rankings.

Rabeya took one for 20 in Bangladesh’s 16-run win over Scotland Women’s team in the side’s ICC T20 World Cup opener and thereafter claimed one for 15 against England, a match which Bangladesh lost by 21 runs despite restricting the English Women’s to a moderate 118-7.

Another gainer in the latest rankings from Bangladesh was other legspinner Fahim Khatun who snapped up three wickets in the last two matches. She leapfrogged 13 places to sit at 45th position at this moment.

Bangladesh’s vulnerable batting show was reflected in latest update too as there was no one to gain in this sector.

Meanwhile, Pakistan spinner Sadia Iqbal became the first from her country to top the ICC Women’s T20I Rankings when she briefly overtook long-time number one Sophie Ecclestone before finishing second among bowlers in the weekly update that is carried out on Tuesdays, an ICC press release stated.

Ecclestone had started the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in top spot – which she had occupied since February 2020. Sadia drew level with her on 757 rating points after taking three for 17 against Sri Lanka in a Group A match on Thursday. Ecclestone slipped to second spot with 750 points two days later after going wicketless against Bangladesh in a Group B match.

Sadia’s reign at the top was, however, limited to two days as Ecclestone grabbed two for 15 against South Africa to win the Player of the Match award and regain the top spot, ending the interesting neck-and-neck battle between the two left-arm spinners for the week.

Sadia became only the second Pakistan player to top the women’s rankings. Former captain Sana Mir was top of the ODI bowling rankings in 2018-2019. (BSS)