Dubai, June 9 (IANS) New Zealand star Melie Kerr dethroned West Indies skipper Healy Matthews to regain the top spot in the T20I all-rounders chart as the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the updated women’s rankings on Tuesday.

Kerr returns to the top position just days before the start of the T20 World Cup, with West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews dropping back to the No.2 slot after she sat out her side’s final fixture of the recent tri-series in Ireland.

Despite New Zealand’s skipper claiming the throne, the race at the top of the all-rounders chart remains tight, with Kerr’s lead sitting at just five rating points as the two influential skippers jostle for positions at the upcoming T20 World Cup in England and Wales that commences on June 12.

While the Australian duo of Georgia Voll and Beth Mooney has continued to remain at top two positions in the batters ranking and will head to the tournament as number one and two batters.

Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has improved her position by one spot and is back in the top 10 list following her unbeaten half-century in the recent series decider against England in Taunton.

There are also gains for the England players who performed well in the series, as Alice Capsey, who was the Player of the Match in the series decider with a superb innings of 82 runs has moved up 13 places to improve to 30th on the list for T20I batters.

Bangladesh Skipper Nigar Sultana has moved up two slots to come in at 18th position in the batters ranking. While England veteran Heather Knight moves to 21st position after moving up four spots.

England spinner Linsey Smith will enter as the Number 1 T20I bowler as she has maintained her narrow advantage in the No.1 position ahead of Pakistan counterpart Sadia Iqbal.

There are gains inside the top 10 for England duo Lauren Bell, who moves up one place to equal second and Charlie Dean, who has reached the fourth spot, while South Africa spinner Nonkululek Mlaba is up to fifth after she improved two rungs.

While Kerr and Matthews dominate the charts for T20I all-rounders, there are gains for Scotland captain Kathryn Bryce, who is up nine places to be placed at 17th following some decent efforts during their recent tri-series against Bangladesh and the Netherlands.

–IANS

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