The International Cricket Council (ICC) made an annual update on the Women’s T20I rankings on May 2 after which Trans-Tasman rivals Australia and New Zealand have been the highest gainers.
Australia maintains their stronghold position over the second-placed team England (279) with a total of point lead after the annual update.
The position of all the top eight teams remains the same, it is only that the teams have gained few points in the ICC rankings. ICC T20 World Cup Winners New Zealand close in with 253 points and are now within seven points of third-placed India (260).
The other four teams in the top eight round out with South Africa (243), West Indies (240), Sri Lanka (228) and Pakistan (220). Ireland goes past Bangladesh onto ninth position following the update that provides weightings at 50 percent for matches between May 2022 and April 2024 and 100 percent for matches thereafter.
One big achievement for the Asia side Thailand as they climb two places to move to 11th position overall, whereas a seven rating point increase for Sierra Leone (34th) and Kuwait (37th) as they move three spots overall apiece.
Four teams dropped out of the rankings due to not having played eight T20Is since May 2022 include teams like Czechia, Oman, Mexico and Ghana.
16 teams have been granted ODI status for the 2025-29 cycle, which will come into effect on May 12. United Arab Emirates (UAE) have taken the place of the United States of America (USA) in those 16 teams.
UAE join some of the associate members to have ODI status such as Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Scotland and Netherlands. Some strong performances in T20Is helped UAE to get to this position.
Thailand and Scotland for having been qualified for the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier retained their ODI status, while T20 rankings of PNG and Netherlands were considered to retain theirs.
At the time of the annual ICC Women’s T2O Rankings update the UAE earned ODI status as the highest-ranked associate member. Teams with an ODI status are required to play at least eight ODIs over a three-to-four-year period to achieve or maintain a ranking.
