Australia strengthens grip on top spot in ICC women’s T20I rankings
Australia have consolidated their position at the top of the ICC women’s T20I team rankings, increasing their lead over England from 18 to 20 points after the annual update carried out on Friday.
There have been no positional changes in the top eight, but Thailand have overtaken Scotland and Papua New Guinea (PNG) to reach the 11th position, as the women’s updates move from the start of October to the start of May along with the men’s team annual rankings update.
Prior to the update, weightings were 50 per cent for matches between October 2021 and September 2023 and 100 per cent thereafter. Post update, the weightings are 50 per cent for matches between May 2022 and April 2024 and 100 per cent thereafter.
Six-time champions Australia may have failed to make the final of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 played in Dubai but their two 3-0 series sweeps over New Zealand, both home and away, as well as a 3-0 victory over England that weigh in at 100 per cent, have helped them gain two points and reach 299 rating points.
India retain third position with an unchanged 260 points while Women’s T20 World Cup winners New Zealand (253) and runners-up South Africa (243) have gained two and one points, respectively, to retain their fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
The West Indies (240) has lost two points, Sri Lanka (228) one point, and Pakistan (220) has gained one point while retaining their positions from sixth to eighth. Ireland have moved ahead of Bangladesh to ninth with 194 points.
Thailand’s victories in a Quadrangular Series in Hong Kong that also featured China and Namibia, as well as in a tri-series in Nepal that also featured the Netherlands, have helped them gain a crucial point and progress two slots.
The biggest gainers are Sierra Leone and Kuwait, both gaining seven rating points and three places to reach 34th and 46th positions, respectively.
Four teams drop out of the rankings as they have not played the requisite eight T20Is since May 2022 to remain in the rankings. Mexico and Czechia have played seven and Oman six while the other team to drop out is Ghana.
The annual update to the ODI rankings will be carried out following the conclusion of the ongoing Sri Lanka Tri-Series in Colombo in which India and South Africa are the other teams.
ODI status update
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have replaced the United States of America (USA) in the list of 16 teams with ODI status for the 2025-29 cycle that will be effective from May 12.
The list includes five Associate Members. Thailand, Scotland, PNG and the Netherlands are the AMs retaining their ODI status while the UAE will be joining them based on T20I performances.
Thailand and Scotland retained ODI status due to their qualification for ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2025 while PNG and the Netherlands retained it because of their T20I rankings.
The UAE gained ODI status by virtue of being the next highest ranked AM team at the time of the annual update to the ICC women’s T20I team rankings.
Teams with ODI status need to play a minimum of eight ODIs over a three-to-four-year period to gain or maintain their ODI rankings.
