Chamari Athapaththu has achieved a career-best rating in all three categories of the ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings. This milestone comes as she leads Sri Lanka in their Women’s Asia Cup title defence in the United Arab Emirates. Athapaththu’s exceptional performance has been instrumental in propelling her team to a strong start in the tournament.
The Sri Lanka captain produced an all-round performance against the UAE, scoring an unbeaten 48 off 25 balls before returning to claim a wicket for 10 runs in three overs as her side completed a nine-wicket victory. Athapaththu’s performance also came after a productive ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year, where she accumulated 172 runs and took three wickets for Sri Lanka. Mithali Ayodhya’s three for 14 helped reduce the UAE to 79 and lifted her 18 places to 70th, while her tally of 444 points is also a career best. Left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari moved five places to 23rd after returning figures of two for 18. Thailand’s Nannapat Koncharoenkai rose one place to 29th among batters after making 41 off 48 against India, while Suleeporn Laomi climbed five positions to joint-63rd among bowlers following her three for 26. Isle of Man batter Lucy Barnett climbed to joint-67th after finishing the Continental Cup in Romania as the leading run-scorer with 257 runs. Romania’s Rebecca Blake moved to joint-89th after scoring 197 runs without being dismissed during the tournament. She now boasts a remarkable T20I batting average of 153.00 from 20 matches.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers have also benefited from their strong tournament opener. There were gains for players from other teams in the Asia Cup as well. The latest rankings also featured strong performances from Associate nations. For Athapaththu, however, the latest update marks a standout achievement, with the veteran all-rounder reaching her highest-ever rating across the batting, bowling, and all-rounder rankings at the beginning of Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup campaign.
