Dubai, Apr 01, 2025, IANS

Dubai, April 1 (IANS) Australia opener Beth Mooney maintained her place as the No.1 ranked T20I batter in the latest ICC Women's T20I Rankings released on Tuesday. The Aussies registered an emphatic 3-0 series whitewash over their trans-Taman rivals last month, with Mooney adjudged Player of the Series for her 166 runs across the three matches. Fellow southpaw Phoebe Litchfield gained a new career-high rating and improved two places overall to 20th on the back of her 60 runs in the series while teammate Georgia Voll jumps a whopping 29 spots to equal 41st following her 161 runs from three innings. The duo obtained new career-high ratings courtesy of their efforts while teammate Annabel Sutherland also climbed to a new career-best mark on the latest rankings for T20I bowlers after her superb series with the ball. Sutherland claimed eight wickets across the three matches, with her best effort coming in the series finale in Wellington as she collected figures of 4-35 to help propel Australia to an eight-run victory. Sutherland remains fourth on the updated rankings for T20I bowlers but closed the gap to within just 20 rating points of England's Sophie Ecclestone at the top of the list. Australian spinner Georgia Wareham gained one place to move up to eighth on the latest rankings for T20I bowlers while veteran seamer Megan Schutt also jumped one spot to improve to 11th overall. There is some joy for a group of New Zealand players despite the fact they failed to win any of the three matches against Australia, with star all-rounder Amelia Kerr leading the way with her stylish half-century in the final match of the series. Kerr improved seven places to 10th overall on the T20I rankings for batters, with teammate Maddy Green jumping nine spots to equal 45th following her innings of 62 from the same contest.