ICC Women's T20I Rankings: Beth Mooney replaces Shafali Verma at the top
What's the story?
India's 16-year-old batswoman, Shafali Verma, has lost her top spot in the ICC Women's T20I Rankings after a disappointing performance against Australia Women in the Women's T20 World Cup final. Australian opener Beth Mooney has become the new number one batswoman in T20I cricket now.
The background
India Women entered the Melbourne Cricket Ground to lock horns with the hosts in the grand finale of the Women's T20 World Cup 2020. Harmanpreet Kaur and co. were unbeaten in the competition, having also defeated Australia Women in the tournament opener. Hence, they were the favorites to win the match.
However, Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy bamboozled the Women in Blue with their extravagant batting performances. Later, the Australian bowlers, primarily Megan Schutt and Jess Jonassen, ran through the Indian batting line-up as Australia Women won the match with supreme ease.
The heart of the matter
After scoring only two runs in the final match, Verma has dropped to the third rank while Mooney's 78-run knock has helped her take the coveted top spot. Her opening partner Alyssa Healy has improved her rank by two places as well while the Australian captain Meg Lanning has dropped out of the top five. Smriti Mandhana too fell to the seventh rank.
On the other side, Megan Schutt has continued to be in the second position in the bowlers' rankings. Jess Jonassen has replaced Deepti Sharma in the top five, while Leigh Kasperek has entered the top ten.
What's next?
After a heartbreaking loss in the final, the India Women will look to work harder and improve their performance in their future matches.