Chamari Athapaththu has earned career best rating points in all three categories of the ICC Women's T20I player rankings after a strong start on which one wins Asia Cup title in the UAE for Sri Lanka after the first match of her women's side. The all-rounder proved herself at all three categories and Sri Lanka won nine wicket victory against the UAE.
Athapaththu’s latest win shows her importance in Sri Lankan cricket. The captain has reached a career-best 734 rating points on the batting list, 552 on the bowling list and 405 on the all rounders list. While she remains sixth on the ICC Women’s T20I batting list, she’s improved on the bowling list and went up three places to 33rd. And she is still third among all-rounders in the world in T20I.
The Sri Lankan's rise in the rankings was a result of a dominant all-round performance against the UAE. Athapaththu was still unbeaten on 48 from only 25 deliveries opening the innings, and she delivered a tough game which enabled Sri Lanka to chase down the target easily. Then she took one wicket for only 10 runs from her three overs.
Sri Lanka’s nine wicket victory made a perfect start to their Asia Cup campaign and Athapaththu had once more an opportunity to show her ability to impact matches in different fields. Her performance in the field and in the field has been a defining aspect of her international career and her recent ranking reflects the consistency in the T20 format.
Athapaththu’s strong start to the Asia Cup follows a productive ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign in the summer. She scored 172 runs and also took three wickets for Sri Lanka in that tournament. Her performances in most international competitions have only further cemented her status as one of women's cricket's most influential all-rounders.
Sri Lanka's opening partnership also made the league ranking update. Imesha Dulani made significant progress and scored 25 from 18 balls against the UAE. The batter climbed four places to a career-high 18th place in the ICC Women's T20I batting rankings and reached 625 rating points.
Harshita Samarawickrama also improved her position, moving up one place to 23rd among T20I batters. Sri Lanka's top-order players will also be a source of encouragement to the team as they go to defend their Women's Asia Cup title.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers were also rewarded for their disciplined performance against the UAE. Mithali Ayodhya took three wickets for 14 runs and played a crucial role in restricting UAE to 79. Her performance helped her to rise 18 places to 70th in the bowling rankings as well, and her 444 rating points are the highest in her career.
Sugandika Kumari also made progress in the rankings after she took two wickets for 18 runs. She moved five places up to 23rd place in the list of T20I bowlers, a sign of the strength of Sri Lanka's bowling team.
Players from other teams involved in the Women's Asia Cup also made gains in the rankings. Thailand’s Nannapat Koncharoenkai made one place to 29th among batters after scoring 41 against India. Suleeporn Laomi moved five places up to joint-63rd among bowlers after a three-wicket performance.
Bangladesh players also benefited from their convincing 71-run victory over Indonesia. Sobhana Mostary moved to 39th among batters after reaching career-best 500 rating points. Bangladesh pacer Marufa Akter climbed two places to 37th after taking two wickets for just 6 runs in three overs.
India seamer Nandani Sharma also reached the top level the rankings and moved 38 places to 112th after taking three wickets for 18 runs against Thailand. The latest rankings update also listed some good performances from Associate nations.
Lucy Barnett, representing Isle of Man, climbed to joint-67th after finishing seventh in the Continental Cup in Romania with 257 runs in total. Romania’s Rebecca Blake moved to joint-89th with 197 runs without being dismissed in the tournament. She has a T20I batting average of 153.00 from 20 matches.
But the main highlight of the recent ICC rankings update is Athapaththu’s historic personal achievement. A career-best rating point in batting, bowling and all-rounder categories is a significant milestone for Sri Lankan captain.
Sri Lanka will have to rely on Athapaththu’s performance to take another Asia Cup title and in such situations she will be one of the most important players in any tournament. Sri Lanka will be in need of her captain to continue her excellent performance and lead the team through another successful Asia Cup.
