Women's T20I Rankings: India Stay Third After Australia Seal NZ Series
Australia's women have finished their home T20I series against New Zealand with a 2-0 win. The third and final match in North Sydney was washed out. The result keeps them clear at the top of the ICC women's T20I team rankings, and India remain third, behind England.
The decider never got going. Rain delayed the start and the game was cut to 14 overs a side. New Zealand were 11 for 2 after 2.4 overs when persistent rain returned and the umpires abandoned the match. Australia had already secured the series, and the Rose Bowl, in the first two games.
The opener at the same venue was close. Australia chased 163 and were comfortable at 102 for 2, then lost wickets in a heap. They still won by two wickets, and Ellyse Perry's 52 off 30 balls did the most to get them home. The second game was more one-sided. Ashleigh Gardner hit 84 off 45 balls and Australia reached 167. New Zealand managed 127 for 8 in reply and lost by 40 runs. Gardner was named Player of the Series. Australia have now held the Rose Bowl for 26 years.
**The table after the series**
Australia sit first with a rating of roughly 291 to 292, depending on the update. England are second on 276 and India third on 265. New Zealand are fourth on about 248, having dropped a point. South Africa follow in fifth on 246.
The gap that matters for India is to England, which stands at 11 rating points. England's rating has not moved because they have not played T20Is recently. Their 38 matches in the current cycle are unchanged between the two most recent updates. India, with 52 matches, have played far more T20Is than anyone else in the top five. That volume gives them a stable rating, and one series rarely shifts it by more than a point.
**India's own sweep**
India's position comes from a busy few weeks. They beat Zimbabwe 3-0 in Raipur and gained a single rating point from it. Harmanpreet Kaur made an unbeaten 91 off 41 balls in the third game, her second-highest T20I score. Shafali Verma added 69 off 37, and India finished on 216 for 7. Nandani Sharma took 3 for 18 as Zimbabwe could only reach 124 for 7, a 92-run defeat. It was also a clean first T20I series for Smriti Mandhana as full-time captain, with Harmanpreet batting freely after giving up the captaincy.
Before that, India won the Women's Asia Cup in September, which was their eighth title. They were third on 262 points going into that tournament and are now on 265. The numbers show steady progress, not a jump.
**What it means for India**
Australia's lead over everyone else is still large, and a bigger one-off series win for India would not close it quickly. The realistic target is second place. A strong run against England, or a slip by them in their next assignment, could move India up a rung. New Zealand's recent results against Australia are a useful reminder. A losing side can drop a point even in a series with a close finish, so every match counts in the T20I system.
For India the picture is encouraging. They have a settled top order, a new captain with early wins, and a bowling unit that is picking up wickets in the powerplay and the middle overs. They do not yet have a marquee result against Australia or England to lift their rating meaningfully. Those are the matches that decide who sits at the top, and India's next big series against one of them will be the real test.