Nahida Akter breaks into top five among T20I bowlers

Bangladesh won the qualifiers in the Netherlands with an all-win record, and most of their wins were set up by their bowlers.

That was reflected in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Women’s Player Rankings, where Nahida Akter, Rumana Ahmed, Salma Khatun, Panna Ghosh and Fahima Khatun all made significant upwards strides.

Ahmed picked up 10 wickets in the tournament, while Fahima and Ghosh had nine each, and Akter seven. That saw Ahmed rise eight spots to No.13, Akter zoom up eight spots to No.5, Salma Khatun rise three places to No.17 – joint with India’s Anuja Patil – and the others also make rapid strides outside the top 20.

Ciara Metcalfe, the veteran Irish leg-spinner who also had a good tournament with seven wickets, rose a remarkable 22 places to joint 19th with England’s Sophie Ecclestone. Ahmed and Akter also recorded their top marks in the ratings points, 599 and 559 respectively.

As for Ireland’s Lucy O’Reilly, the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 11 scalps to her name from four games, she re-entered the rankings in 46th spot with a career-best 415 ratings points.

On to the batters, and Sterre Kalis, the teenaged Netherlands player, had two outstanding knocks during the tournament, but unfortunately her team didn’t win a single game. But her 88* and 79, both against the United Arab Emirates, helped Kalis break into the rankings table at No.33 among the batters with 424 points.

The batter to make the most of the opportunities in the qualifiers was Clare Shillington, the Irish opener who was named Player of the Tournament for her 126 runs.

It was below Kalis as well as Scottish sisters Sarah and Kathryn Bryce, who scored 162 and 129 respectively, but enough to move Shillington up to No.17, joint with South Africa’s Mignon du Preez, a rise of five positions.