Women's T20I Rankings: Shafali Verma becomes world no.1 batter
India's blistering women's batter Shafali Verma reached the top of the T20I rankings for batters, following a prolific show against South Africa in the 2nd T20I of the series.
Verma top-scored for India with 47 off 31 deliveries, slamming six fours and two sixes in the innings. However, India lost the game on the final ball of the match as South Africa chased the 159-run target with six wickets to spare.
The 17-year-old Rohtak-born player is known for his aggressive style of play, and emerged as one of India's key batters in the last year's T20 World Cup in Australia.
She was the top-scorer for India with 163 runs in five innings, as the side reached the final of the tournament. Verma ended the T20 WC with a strike-rate of 158.25, which was the highest among the top-five batters in terms of runs.
Shafali was also the joint-top six-hitter in the tournament (9) alongside Alyssa Healy.
Among Indians, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues retained their positions at 7th and 9th respectively.
In the bowling rankings, Deepti Sharma remains 7th while Radha Yadav follows her at 8th. Deepti also gained one position to go fourth in the all-rounder's rankings.
South Africa have already sealed the three-match series with a 2-0 lead against India, but the Smriti Mandhana-led side will aim to end the series on a high as they take on the visitors in the final match later tonight.
