Dubai, May 27 (IANS) Pakistan left-spinner Sadia Iqbal has dethroned England’s Sophie Ecclestone as the No.1 T20I bowler in the latest ICC Women’s Rankings released on Tuesday.

Ecclestone has slipped from first to fourth after missing the T20I series against West Indies as she was recuperating from an injury and played domestic cricket during the past week.

She has been replaced on the top of the charts with another left-arm spinner Sadia while India’s Deepti Sharma and Australia’s Annabel Sutherland have taken the second and third positions respectively.

Sadia was briefly number one in October last year during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai when she had become the first from her country to grab the top spot.

England’s new-ball bowler Lauren Bell has advanced 13 places to a career-best sixth position after finishing with a series-topping seven wickets. Linsey Smith (up 37 places to 41st) and Issy Wong (up 32 places to joint 62nd) are others progressing in the bowling rankings.

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has moved up to a career-best-equalling second position in the ICC Women’s T20I batting rankings after a valiant show against England.

Matthews, who top-scored in the three-match series with 177 runs that included an unbeaten century (100) in the first match in Canterbury and was named the Player of the Series, has overtaken India’s Smriti Mandhana and Australia’s Tahlia McGrath to reclaim second position, which she had last occupied in December last year.

Former England captain Heather Knight, who contributed 109 runs including an unbeaten 66 in the third match in Chelmsford, has moved up seven places to 17th, while skipper Nat Sciver Brunt is up five slots to ninth after aggregating 92 runs and leading her side to a 3-0 series washout. Sophia Dunkley is up eight places to 29th.

–IANS

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