England’s Sophie Ecclestone, who missed the recent series against West Indies, has dropped to fourth on the list

Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal has ascended to the top spot in the ICC’s T20I bowling rankings. This rise is primarily attributed to England’s Sophie Ecclestone, who missed the recent series against West Indies due to a knee injury sustained at the WPL, dropping to fourth place. Ecclestone has since returned to play for Lancashire Women.

Sadia Iqbal credited former Pakistan captain Sana Mir for guiding her recent improvements, stating, “She (Sana Mir) obviously had a lot of experience in women’s cricket. The way she’s served Pakistan cricket, she has been number one bowler during her days. I used to keep talking to her while we were on tour regarding bowling different variations.”

From the England-West Indies T20I series, leading wicket-taker Lauren Bell climbed 13 spots to sixth, while Linsey Smith and Issy Wong made significant jumps of 37 and 32 places, respectively. Wong’s improvement is particularly noteworthy as she was making a comeback to the squad, having last played in September 2024 and missing the T20 World Cup.

Despite West Indies being swept 3-0 in the series, captain Hayley Matthews continued to showcase individual brilliance. She was the series’ leading run-scorer with 177 runs, including a century in the opening game, moving up two places in the batting rankings to second, 29 points behind Beth Mooney. With West Indies set to play South Africa next month, Matthews could be eyeing the top spot. In doing so, she displaced Tahlia McGrath and Smriti Mandhana to third and fourth respectively. Matthews also maintains her position as the leading all-rounder, with a 54-point lead over Amelia Kerr.

England’s new captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt, entered the T20I batting top 10 at ninth place after scoring a half-century in the series. Former captain Heather Knight jumped seven spots to 17th, and Sophia Dunkley, the third-highest run-scorer in the series, moved eight places to 29th.