First round of ICC Women's Championship concludes

In the final series of the first round in Colombo, Sri Lanka and South Africa played out an exhilarating and competitive series which ended in a one-all draw with the second One-Day International (ODI) rained off.

South Africa claimed the first spoils in the three-ODI series when it defeated the host by 53 runs in a game which saw Marizanne Kapp score 89 not out, with opening batter Lizelle Lee contributing 72 in the visitors’ 225 for eight. Sri Lanks’s Eshani Lokusuriyage followed up her two for 24 with a fine 59 but the home side fell short by 53 runs as it was restricted to 172 for nine.

Sri Lanka bounced back in the third ODI to win the match by four wickets with six balls to spare after the second ODI couldn’t be complete despite a reserve day. Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Jayangani won the toss and her decision to field first was justified when South Africa was restricted to 139 for seven in game reduced to 27 overs per side. In reply, Chamari Jayangani hit a 71-ball 63 as Sri Lanka romped to victory for the loss of four wickets with six balls to spare.

As a consequence, in the Reliance ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for Batters, Jayangani was the biggest mover in the batting ranks, when she jumped nine places to 12th.

South Africa all-rounder Marizanne Kapp has also improved her batting rankings by two places and is now in 15th position, while her compatriot Dane van Niekerk, has risen three places to share 22nd position with Eshani Kaushalya, who has vaulted 14 places. Lee is also a big gainer in the latest rankings, when she has rocketed 14 places to 40th.

In the Reliance ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for Bowlers, South Africa bowler Shibnam Ismail has moved up three places to seventh spot. Kapp’s efforts with the ball means that she has progressed by three places and is now marginally off the top 20 in 21st position. 

Sri Lanka’s top ranked bowler is H.A.S.D. Siriwardene who is unchanged in 18th place, while her team-mate Maduri Samuddika was a significant riser in the rankings update when she climbed 19 places to 57th.

Kapp has moved up two places to number-three in the all-rounder rankings, where West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor continues to blaze a trail.

The ICC Women’s Championship is a qualifying tournament for the ICC Women’s World Cup with the top four sides progressing to the 2017 event to be staged in England. The bottom four sides will get a final chance of qualification through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in 2017.

The tournament structure will see each team will play each other in one home or away series that will include three ODIs over a two and a half year period. As such, each side is guaranteed at least 21 ODIs over the tournament period.

With the world’s top eight ranked sides participating in the tournament, three series of three ODIs each were played in the lead up to South Africa-Sri Lanka series, with Australia and West Indies sweeping side Pakistan and New Zealand respectively, and England beating India by 2-0 with one match washed-out.

Forthcoming fixtures:

Australia v West Indies

11 Nov – First ODI, Sydney
13 Nov – Second ODI, Sydney
16 Nov – Third ODI, Bowral

India v South Africa
23 Nov – First ODI, Bangalore
25 Nov – Second ODI, Bangalore
27 Nov – Third ODI, Bangalore

ICC Women’s ODI Team Rankings:

The ICC Women's Championship is being contested by the following eight teams who have been seeded according to their rankings following the ICC Women’s World Cup India 2013:

1.     Australia
2.     West Indies
3.     England
4.     New Zealand
5.     Sri Lanka
6.     South Africa
7.     India
8.     Pakistan

Following the completion of the round-robin matches, the final standings of the points table will represent each team’s final event ranking, and the top four teams will automatically qualify for the ICC WWC 2017.

Reliance ICC Women’s Player Rankings on ODIs (as on 22 October): 

Batting

Rank      (+/-)         Player                             Team     Points  Average Highest Ranking

   1         ( - )        Mithali Raj                        Ind         735       50.05        839 v Aus at Baroda Vadodar 2004

   2         ( - )        C. Edwards                         Eng       723!      38.07        723 v Ind at Scarborough 2014

   3         ( - )        Sarah Taylor                      Eng        707       39.71        803 v Aus at Chelmsford 2009

   4         ( - )        Stafanie Taylor                  WI         697       43.50        765 v Ind at St Kitts (WP) 2012

   5         ( - )        Suzie Bates                        NZ         651       37.20        734 v WI at Kingston 2013

   6         ( - )        H. Kaur                              Ind         640*     35.06        673 v SL at Visakhapatnam 2014

   7=       ( - )        Jessica Cameron                Aus        635       38.53       660 v Pak at Brisbane 2014

              ( - )        Meg Lanning                     Aus        635*     39.22        673 v Eng at Hove 2013

   9         ( - )        Deandra Dottin                  WI         626       27.44        650 v NZ at Kingston 2013

  10        ( - )        Alex Blackwell                  Aus        602       33.79       683 v Ind at Canberra 2008

Selected Others:

Rank    (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points   Average               Highest Ranking

12         (+9)       C. Jayangani        SL          538*!    31.66                      538 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2014

  15        (+2)       Marizanne Kapp  SA         531*     33.07                      539 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014

  18        ( - )        Trisha Chetty       SA         492       30.04                      531 v SL at Potchefstroom 2013

  19        (-3)        Mignon du Preez SA         489       32.31                      540 v SL at Potchefstroom 2013

  22=      (+14)     E. Kaushalya       SL          429       16.03                      482 v Ind at Mumbai 2013

              (+3)       D. van Niekerk    SA         429*     27.04                       431 v SL at Potchefstroom 2013

  34        (-10)      Shandre Fritz       SA         388       21.31                      433 v SL at Cuttack 2013

  36        (-9)        A. Mendis            SL          385*     19.86                     420 v Ind at Visakhapatnam 2014

  40        (+14)     Lizelle Lee          SA         353*!    32.25                      353 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014

  49        (-8)        D. Rasangika       SL          326*     18.19                      439 v WI at Dambulla 2013

  50        (-12)      H.A.S.D.Sir’dene SL         324       19.09                      497 v Pak at Canberra 2009

Bowling

Rank    (+/-)        Player                               Team     Points   Average  Economy    Highest Ranking

   1         ( - )        Stafanie Taylor                  WI         723       17.16        3.00           768 v NZ at Kingston 2013

   2         ( - )        A. Mohammed                   WI         696!      16.67       3.16            696 v NZ at St Kitts (WP) 2014

   3         ( - )        Jenny Gunn                        Eng        693!      27.00       3.73            693 v Ind at Scarborough 2014

   4         ( - )        J. Goswami                        Ind         671       21.36        3.20            796 v Eng at Chennai 2007

   5         ( - )        Shanel Daley                      WI         664*!    21.56       3.26            664 v NZ at St Kitts (WP) 2014

   6         ( - )        Katherine Brunt                 Eng        653       21.52       3.29            796 v Ind at Mumbai 2013

   7         (+3)       Shibnam Ismail                  SA         595*!    18.61       3.49            595 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014

   8         (-1)        Sana Mir                            Pak        590       23.84       3.46            598 v Aus at Brisbane 2014

   9         ( - )        Erin Osborne                      Aus        567*     26.56      3.95             581 v Eng at Melbourne 2014

  10        (+1)       Holly Colvin                      Eng        538       21.80       3.58             715 v Aus at Lord's 2009

  Selected Others:

13        (-5)        Sunette Loubser                 SA         524*      17.53    3.04      568 v Pak at Doha 2014

  15        (-1)        Dane van Niekerk              SA         511*     15.77    3.28      529 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014

  18        ( - )        H.A.S.D.Siriwardene         SL          488        24.04    3.69      535 v Eng at Colombo (NCC) 2010

  21        (+3)       Marizanne Kapp                SA         479*!     24.89    3.56      479 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014

  29        ( - )        Shaquana Quintyne            WI         417*!    24.76    3.73      417 v NZ at St Kitts (WP) 2014

  33        ( - )        Marcia Letsoalo                 SA         396*      33.21    3.29      400 v Pak at Doha 2014

  39        (-2)        Shiromala Weerakkody     SL          357*      35.06    3.64      397 v SA at Potchefstroom 2013

  41        (+3)       Eshani Kaushalya               SL          331*      28.04    4.22     377 v WI at Dambulla 2013

  46        (-1)        Udeshika Prabodhani         SL          315*      44.46    3.78      326 v SA at Potchefstroom 2013

  57        (+19)     Maduri Samuddika            SL          240*!     29.20    3.65      240 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2014

All-rounders

Rank    (+/-)       Player                               Team     Points                Highest Ranking

   1         ( - )        Stafanie Taylor                  WI         504                      560 v NZ at Kingston 2013
   2         ( - )        Shanel Daley                      WI         264/*                   273 v Aus at Mumbai 2013
   3         (+2)       Marizanne Kapp                SA         254*/*!                254 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014
   4         (-1)        Ellyse Perry                       Aus        243                      286 v Eng at Hobart 2014
   5         (-1)        Jenny Gunn                        Eng        232                      348 v Aus at Melbourne 2008