Leigh Kasperek’s nine wickets in two games helps her get to No. 17 on the bowlers’ chart
Meg Lanning leads Australia off after they sealed a 3-0 series win over New Zealand
Leigh Kasperek‘s career-best returns of 6 for 46, followed by 3 for 24, against Australia has pushed her seven spots up to No. 17 among bowlers in the ICC rankings in the 50-over format, even as Meg Lanning‘s contributions with the bat in Australia’s 3-0 wipeout of New Zealand in that series helped her move back into the top five among batters.
Lanning scored a useful 51-ball 49 in the second ODI against New Zealand, in what was a 71-run win, and then hit 15 in the rain-curtailed third match, which also went Australia’s way, by 21 runs. That helped them stretch their winning streak to 24 matches – when they won the first match of the series to make it 22 wins in a row, Lanning’s team created a new world record by beating the mark of 21 set by Ricky Ponting’s Australia in 2003. Lanning had last been No. 1 in ODIs last October.
England batter Tammy Beaumont remained in top spot, followed by South Africa’s Lizelle Lee, Australia’s Alyssa Healy, and West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor. Healy hit 44 and 46 in the second and third ODIs, to follow a 65 in the first, to move to 756 rating points, just two behind Lee and nine behind Beaumont. Somewhat below them, Beth Mooney‘s 26 and 28 took her up two spots to No. 17.
In the bowlers’ chart, Australia quick Megan Schutt remained in second place, behind compatriot Jess Jonassen, despite picking up seven wickets in the series – she was named the Player of the Series, though – while the big mover was Kasperek, the 29-year-old offspinner, who moved to within two spots of her career-best 15th position. Georgia Wareham, meanwhile, moved up two places to 22nd after returns of 2 for 39 and 2 for 25.
Australia also earned two points to consolidate their position at the top of the team table, where New Zealand are fifth, with South Africa, England and India between them.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo