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 ther Women’s Asia Cup title defence in the United Arab Emirates.
She remains sixth among T20I batters, while moving three places to 33rd in the bowling list and retaining third position among all-rounders. Her opening partner Imesha Dulani also made significant progress in the latest update. Harshita Samarawickrama has moved up one place to 23rd among batters. Sri Lanka’s bowlers have also benefited from their strong tournament opener. There were gains for players from other teams in the Asia Cup as well.
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. 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. After scoring 25 from 18 deliveries against the UAE, Dulani climbed four places to a career-high 18th position with 625 rating points. 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. 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.
