Matthews eyes top all-rounder position

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has closed in on top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings for all-rounders and has also made a big jump in the bowling rankings.

She moved one spot in the all-rounder rankings to second and also jumped three places up in the bowling rankings to fourth.

Matthews is now four rating points away from the top-ranked Sophie Devine of New Zealand in rankings for all-rounders. In the bowling rankings, she is behind England’s Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn and Deepti Sharma of India.

The only other West Indies Women player to move up in the bowling rankings was right-arm leg-spinner Afy Fletcher who is one spot higher on 14.

Stafanie Taylor, meanwhile, slipped out of the top 10 in the all-rounder rankings and is now ranked 11th.

Matthews’ improvement in the bowling rankings comes on the heels of her picking up five wickets in the ongoing five-match T20I series against England in the Caribbean.

West Indies Women have already lost the series, having failed to secure in win in any of the four matches so far. They will have a chance to avoid a whitewash in the final game at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Thursday night. (CMC)