England , New Zealand emerge as serious contenders for women’s title after unbeaten runsMumbai, Mar 29 (IBNS) As the business end of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 India 2016 approaches, the tournament has thrown up a few surprises, and the biggest on

New Zealand and England have announced themselves as strong contenders as both the sides enter the semi-finals unbeaten after winning all their four league matches.

This change in the equation is evident in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s Team Rankings with Australia (128 points) holding on to top spot, but finding its lead cut to just four points as England (124 points) plays catch up. New Zealand has gained two points (116 points) and is now just 12 points behind Australia and eight behind England.

A disappointing outing for host India (107 points) with just one win in the league matches, this means it has dropped four points and now leads the West Indies (102 points) by just five. The fact that the Caribbean side has qualified for the semi-finals means it has a chance of moving further up the ladder.

There is no such opportunity for South Africa (93 points), which managed just one win but is lucky to retain its sixth position. It is followed by Pakistan (seventh), Sri Lanka (eighth), Bangladesh (ninth) and Ireland (10th).

Meg Lanning’s Southern Stars felt the might of New Zealand’s spin as the White Ferns handed the three-time champion its only defeat in the tournament. Australia now faces England’s challenge for a spot in the final.

Stafanie Taylor’s West Indies has been in three out of four semi-finals since the women’s tournament began in 2009, and will enter the semi-final against New Zealand with three wins out of four league games.

Similar to the men’s side, New Zealand’s women’s side has also shown excellent form and consistency, and the two-time finalists will be hoping to finally add the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 trophy to their cabinet.

New Zealand and England players have been rewarded for their impressive forms with rises in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s T20I player Rankings.

Amongst the batters, Lanning has held on to top spot, but her English and New Zealand counterparts have risen a spot each to close the gap on her. Suzie Bates (second) and Charlotte Edwards (third) have led by example, scoring the most runs in the tournament so far with 171 each.

New Zealand’s Rachel Priest (24th), the seventh highest run-scorer in the tournament to date with 102 runs, along with team-mates Amy Satterthwaite (27th) and Sara McGlashan (28th) have been were rewarded for their efforts with a six place, one place and three place rise respectively.

England’s Natalie Sciver has jumped 12 places and is now 25th, while Danielle Wyatt has earned two spots and is now in 46thposition.

Australia players have made their mark in the rankings with Alex Blackwell rising a place to 13th and Jess Jonassen moving up four places to 36th.

Stafanie Taylor has returned to the top five in fourth position (up by two places), while her team-mate Deandra Dottin has gained one spot and is now in sixth position.

Amongst the bowlers, Anya Shrubsole of England has retained her number-one position, but closing in on her is New Zealand’s Morna Nielson who is just 20 points behind.

Pakistan’s slow-left arm bowler Anam Amin has vaulted 21 places to fourth after taking seven wickets, while Leigh Kasperek of New Zealand has rocketed 27 places to eighth as she leads the most successful bowlers’ list with nine wickets.

Other big movers in the bowlers’ chart are New Zealand’s Erin Bermingham (22nd), India’s Poonam Yadav (10th) and Anuja Patil (27th), South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp (32nd) and West Indies’ Dottin (42nd). .

Dottin has moved up five places to fifth in all-rounders’ rankings as well. Australia’s Ellyse Perry is holding on to the top spot, with South Africa’s Dane van Niekerk maintaining her second position. Taylor (third), Sophie Devine (seventh) and Jess Jonassen (10th) have each earned a one spot rise up in the top-10.

The stage is set for two enthralling semi-finals and one thing is for certain - the tide is changing in women’s cricket, and there will be no one-sided affairs. Watch out for equal contests between four exciting teams.

MRF Tyres ICC Women’s Rankings (as on 29 March, after group stage matches in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 India 2016)

Rank Team Points

1. Australia 128

2. England 124

3. New Zealand 116

4. India 107

5. West Indies 102

6. South Africa 93

7. Pakistan 81

8. Sri Lanka 71

9. Bangladesh 45

10. Ireland 29

MRF Tyres ICC T20I Women’s Player Rankings (as on 29 March, after group stage matches in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 India 2016)

Batting (top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge S/Rate HS Rating

1 ( - ) Meg Lanning Aus 666 31.23 118 717 v WI at Melbourne 2014

2 (+1) Suzie Bates NZ 664 27.46 107 666 v Ire at Chandigarh 2016

3 (+1) C Edwards Eng 655 33.00 107 812 v Pak at Taunton 2009

4 (+2) Stafanie Taylor WI 639 36.00 104 770 v NZ at St Lucia 2010

5 (-3) Sarah Taylor Eng 636 30.34 110 721 v Aus at Chelmsford 2013

6 (+1) Deandra Dottin WI 609 24.85 125 649 v Eng at Bridgetown 2013

7 (-2) Mithali Raj Ind 607 34.60 100 761 v WI at Ahmedabad 2011

8 ( - ) Bismah Maroof Pak 567 27.86 84 579 v Ban at Karachi 2015

9 (+2) D van Niekerk SA 541 26.67 87 543 v Ire at Chennai 2016

10 ( - ) Sophie Devine NZ 539 24.67 114 560 v SL at Christchurch 2015

Selected rankings (top 50)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge S/Rate HS Rating

11 (+1) H Kaur Ind 529 22.04 93 594 v Aus at Visakhapatnam 2012

12 (-3) M du Preez SA 527 22.00 94 552 v Eng at Johannesburg 2016

13 (+1) Alex Blackwell Aus 512 21.15 94 566 v Eng at Canberra 2011

17 (+4) C Jayangani SL 499! 18.00 91 499 v SA at Bangalore 2016

21 (+2) Salma Khatun Ban 471* 18.50 89 476 v Eng at Bangalore 2016

23 (+1) Trisha Chetty SA 455 18.05 90 522 v SL at Potchefstroom 2013

24 (+6) Rachel Priest NZ 453! 17.65 109 453 v SA at Bangalore 2016

25 (+12) Natalie Sciver Eng 447*! 18.73 96 447 v Pak at Chennai 2016

27 (+1) A Satterthwaite NZ 437 19.14 88 507 v WI at Bridgetown 2013

28 (+3) Sara McGlashan NZ 411 17.87 99 631 v Aus at Invercargill 2011

29 (+6) Dilani Surangika SL 410 20.51 83 419 v Aus at Delhi 2016

30 (-1) Marizanne Kapp SA 409 17.28 93 437 v Ind at Bangalore 2014

36 (+4) Jess Jonassen Aus 391*! 17.95 92 391 v Ire at Delhi 2016

37 (-5) Javeria Khan Pak 382 17.90 82 493 v Aus at Sylhet 2014

38 (+1) Eshani Kaushalya SL 380 14.58 107 392 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2015

46= (+2) Danielle Wyatt Eng 300 12.02 104 355 v WI at Bridgetown 2013

(+15) V Krishnamurthy Ind 300*! 16.09 104 300 v WI at Mohali 2016

50 (+5) Kim Garth Ire 288*! 19.50 66 288 v Aus at Delhi 2016

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco. HS Rating Ranking

1 ( - ) Anya Shrubsole Eng 679 12.39 5.42 680 v WI at Dharamsala 2016

2 (+2) Morna Nielsen NZ 659! 18.30 4.85 659 v SA at Bangalore 2016

3 ( - ) Ellyse Perry Aus 615 19.44 5.73 686 v NZ at Nelson 2010

4 (+21) Anam Amin Pak 614 17.85 4.89 645 v Ban at Delhi 2016

5 (-3) Danielle Hazell Eng 604 19.23 5.21 685 v NZ at Chelmsford 2011

6 (-1) A Mohammed WI 594 15.19 5.28 673 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2011

7 (-1) Shabnim Ismail SA 590 19.65 5.70 618 v Aus at Nagpur 2016

8 (+27) Leigh Kasperek NZ 578*! 6.96 4.09 578 v SA at Bangalore 2016

9 ( - ) Jess Jonassen Aus 572 20.66 5.23 598 v Ire at Dublin 2015

10 (+6) Poonam Yadav Ind 562* 12.39 5.33 571 v Pak at Delhi 2016

Selected rankings (top 50)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco. HS Rating Ranking

11 (+1) Jhulan Goswami Ind 551 20.17 5.25 671 v Aus at Visakhapatnam 2012

20 (+8) Ekta Bisht Ind 520 16.26 5.48 524 v SL at Visakhapatnam 2014

22 (+12) Erin Bermingham NZ 516 15.62 5.20 516 v SA at Bangalore 2016

24 (+5) Sune Luus SA 495 17.44 5.45 499 v Ire at Chennai 2016

25 (+6) S Quintyne WI 489 18.70 5.69 625 v NZ at Invercargill 2014

27 (+20) Anuja Patil Ind 485*! 19.93 5.20 485 v WI at Mohali 2016

28 (+8) Asmavia Iqbal Pak 481 22.02 5.85 501 v Aus at Gold Coast 2014

34 (+10) Marizanne Kapp SA 464 16.15 4.95 645 v Ire at Doha 2014

42 (+18) Deandra Dottin WI 413! 18.25 5.89 413 v Ind at Mohali 2016

43 (+9) Hayley Matthews WI 411* 14.56 5.19 437 v Ban at Chennai 2016

44 (+11) R Gayakwad Ind 410* 19.53 6.25 418 v Eng at Dharamsala 2016

47 (+17) Heather Knight Eng 399* 21.40 5.03 407 v WI at Dharamsala 2016

50 (+20) Shamilia Connell WI 393*! 34.66 5.33 393 v Ind at Mohali 2016

All-rounders (top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Ranking

1 ( - ) E Perry Aus 309 319 v NZ at New Plymouth 2016

2 ( - ) D van Niekerk SA 298 304 v Ire at Chennai 2016

3 (+1) Stafanie Taylor WI 282 422 v SL at Bridgetown 2012

4 (-1) Salma Khatun Ban 260* 292 v Ire at Sylhet 2014

5 (+5) Deandra Dottin WI 252! 252 v Ind at Mohali 2016

6 ( - ) Suzie Bates NZ 239 274 v Aus at Taunton 2011

7 (+1) Sophie Devine NZ 236 304 v Eng at Hove 2010

8 (-3) Isobel Joyce Ire 235 291 v Aus at Sylhet 2014

9 (-2) Bismah Maroof Pak 229 248 v Ire at Doha 2014

10 (+1) Jess Jonassen Aus 224*! 224 v Ire at Delhi 2016