Dubai
Chamari Athapaththu has reached career-best rating points in all three categories of the ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings after leading Sri Lanka to a commanding start in their Women’s Asia Cup title defence in the United Arab Emirates.
The Sri Lanka captain produced an all-round performance against the UAE, scoring an unbeaten 48 off 25 balls before returning to claim a wicket for 10 runs in three overs as her side completed a nine-wicket victory. The result has lifted Athapaththu to a career-best 734 rating points among batters, 552 among bowlers and 405 in the all-rounders’ rankings. She remains sixth among T20I batters, while moving three places to 33rd in the bowling list and retaining third position among all-rounders. Athapaththu’s performance also came after a productive ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year, where she accumulated 172 runs and took three wickets for Sri Lanka. Her opening partner Imesha Dulani also made significant progress in the latest update. After scoring 25 from 18 deliveries against the UAE, Dulani climbed four places to a career-high 18th position with 625 rating points.
Harshita Samarawickrama has moved up one place to 23rd among batters. Sri Lanka’s bowlers have also benefited from their strong tournament opener. Mithali Ayodhya’s three for 14 helped reduce the UAE to 79 and lifted her 18 places to 70th, while her tally of 444 points is also a career best. Left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari moved five places to 23rd after returning figures of two for 18. There were gains for players from other teams in the Asia Cup as well. Thailand’s Nannapat Koncharoenkai rose one place to 29th among batters after making 41 off 48 against India, while Suleeporn Laomi climbed five positions to joint-63rd among bowlers following her three for 26. Bangladesh’s impressive 71-run win over Indonesia also brought movement in the rankings.
Sobhana Mostary moved one place to 39th with a career-best 500 points, while pacer Marufa Akter rose two spots to 37th after taking two wickets for six runs in three overs. India seamer Nandani Sharma was another major mover, jumping 38 places to 112th after claiming three for 18 against Thailand. The latest rankings also featured strong performances from Associate nations. Isle of Man batter Lucy Barnett climbed to joint-67th after finishing the Continental Cup in Romania as the leading run-scorer with 257 runs. Romania’s Rebecca Blake moved to joint-89th after scoring 197 runs without being dismissed during the tournament. She now boasts a remarkable T20I batting average of 153.00 from 20 matches. For Athapaththu, however, the latest update marks a standout achievement, with the veteran all-rounder reaching her highest-ever rating across the batting, bowling, and all-rounder rankings at the beginning of Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup campaign.