Cricket: Nigeria drop in women’s T20i rankings

The Nigerian women’s cricket team have dropped three places from 26th to 29th in the latest International Cricket Council T20i rankings released on Friday.

This means they are the sixth-best cricket-playing nation in Africa behind South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Namibia and Tanzania.

Nigeria’s inability to rise is not unconnected to the inactivity of the team in past months, with the annual National Women’s Invitational tournament also cancelled.

The team will however get the chance to regain more ICC points when they participate in the Kwibuka Memorial tournament later this month in Rwanda.

Australia have consolidated their position at the top of the ICC Women’s T20I rankings, increasing its lead over England from 18 to 20 points after the annual update carried out on Friday.

There have been no positional changes in the top eight, but Thailand have overtaken Scotland and Papua New Guinea to reach 11th position, as the women’s updates move from the start of October to the start of May along with the men’s team annual rankings update.

Six-time champions Australia may have failed to make the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 played in Dubai but their two 3-0 series sweeps over New Zealand, both home and away, as well as a 3-0 victory over England that weigh in at 100 per cent, have helped them gain two points and reach 299 rating points.

India retain the third position with an unchanged 260 points while Women’s T20 World Cup winners New Zealand (253) and runners-up South Africa (243) have gained two and one points, respectively, to retain their fourth and fifth positions.

The biggest gainers are Sierra Leone and Kuwait, both gaining seven rating points and three places to reach 34th and 46th positions, respectively.

Meanwhile, the men’s team are unmoved in their global 36th spot in their rankings, retaining their spot as the seventh-best team in Africa.