Lauren Bell forced her way back into the top 20 of the ICC women’s bowling rankings after taking New Zealand’s top three batters LBW in England’s latest match. Bell finished with three for 29, a spell that lifted her to 17th place and a career-best 562 rating points.
The update came with less than a month to go before the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales, giving the England quick a timely move up the list. It also reflected a strong week for players across formats, with ranking changes published after Pakistan’s three-match series against Zimbabwe and England’s match against New Zealand.
Bell’s figures stood out most because of how she made the breakthroughs. Taking the top three batters LBW is a rare way to dominate an innings, and it left New Zealand with little room to recover. England’s bowling display helped secure a series that ended 1-1 after a rain-affected three-match contest, and Bell’s return to 17th marks her highest rating points total so far.
There were more changes for England players in the ODI rankings as well. Charlie Dean advanced four slots to 58th, while Alice Capsey moved up two places to 75th and reached career-best rating points of 363. Emma Lamb also climbed 16 places to 37th among the bowlers after taking two wickets for 29 in seven overs.
New Zealand’s Brooke Halliday moved up three places to 15th among the ODI batters after scoring an unbeaten 42 from 54 balls in the third and final match, while Maddy Green was rewarded for a productive series, scoring 125 runs in two matches and being named Player of the Series. The rankings reflected the kind of small but meaningful shifts that can reshape a player’s standing in the weeks before a major tournament.
Pakistan also had reason to take notice. Ayesha Zafar jumped 190 slots to joint-52nd in the T20I batting rankings, while Fatima Sana moved up four places to 23rd among batters and six places to joint-29th among bowlers, with career-best rating points of 328. At the top of the bowling charts, Sadia Iqbal stretched her lead to 19 points over Sophie Ecclestone, underlining how tightly packed the race remains even as the World Cup approaches.
