DUBAI – West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews will be eyeing a strong performance at the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup to propel her to the top of the T20 batting rankings.
The Women’s T20 World Cup commences in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday (October 3)and the West Indies will play their opening match against South Africa on Friday (October 4).
Matthews, the top ranked T20 all-rounder in the world, is currently third in the batting rankings behind Australia’s duo of Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath, and will need a strong performance if she is to become the first non-Australian to hold the top spot in three years.
Just 22 points currently separate the top five batters, with Mooney currently leading the way on 757 points while McGrath is in second on 748 points.
Mooney showed why she is the one to beat with an impressive 30-ball half century in Australia’s warm-up match against England last week.
The 26-year-old Matthews is a further two points behind on a career-high 746, with India’s Smriti Mandhana also in contention on 743, while Laura Wolvaardt is not far behind on 735.
Meanwhile, Matthews comfortably sits at the top of the all-rounder rankings with 524 points, over a hundred more than second placed Ash Gardner of Australia.
Gardner is in second position on 415 points, India’s Deepti Sharma is third on 396 points, Amelia Kerr of New Zealand is fourth on 387 points, while Chamari Athapaththu rounds off the top five on 330 points.
CM
