SA draw with SL in the first round of the ICC Women’s Championship

Following the completion of the opening round of the ICC Women’s Championship, the West Indies and Australia are level at the top of the table and both sides will face-off next month in Australia, as they look to cement their early advantage in what is set to be a thrilling series in Sydney (which will host the opening two ODI’s) and then Bowral.

In the final series of the first round in Colombo, Sri Lanka and South Africa played out an exhilarating and competitive series which ended in a one-all draw with the second One-Day International (ODI) rained off.

South Africa claimed the first spoils in the three-ODI series when it defeated the host by 53 runs in a game which saw Marizanne Kapp score 89 not out, with opening batter Lizelle Lee contributing 72 in the visitors’ 225 for eight. Sri Lanks’s Eshani Lokusuriyage followed up her two for 24 with a fine 59 but the home side fell short by 53 runs as it was restricted to 172 for nine.

Sri Lanka bounced back in the third ODI to win the match by four wickets with six balls to spare after the second ODI couldn’t be complete despite a reserve day. Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Jayangani won the toss and her decision to field first was justified when South Africa was restricted to 139 for seven in game reduced to 27 overs per side. In reply, Chamari Jayangani hit a 71-ball 63 as Sri Lanka romped to victory for the loss of four wickets with six balls to spare.

As a consequence, in the Reliance ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for Batters, Jayangani was the biggest mover in the batting ranks, when she jumped nine places to 12^th.

South Africa all-rounder Marizanne Kapp has also improved her batting rankings by two places and is now in 15^th position, while her compatriot Dane van Niekerk, has risen three places to share 22^nd position with Eshani Kaushalya, who has vaulted 14 places. Lee is also a big gainer in the latest rankings, when she has rocketed 14 places to 40^th.

In the Reliance ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for Bowlers, South Africa bowler Shibnam Ismail has moved up three places to seventh spot. Kapp’s efforts with the ball means that she has progressed by three places and is now marginally off the top 20 in 21^st position.

Sri Lanka’s top ranked bowler is H.A.S.D. Siriwardene who is unchanged in 18^th place, while her team-mate Maduri Samuddika was a significant riser in the rankings update when she climbed 19 places to 57^th.

Kapp has moved up two places to number-three in the all-rounder rankings, where West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor continues to blaze a trail.

The ICC Women’s Championship is a qualifying tournament for the ICC Women’s World Cup with the top four sides progressing to the 2017 event to be staged in England. The bottom four sides will get a final chance of qualification through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in 2017.

The tournament structure will see each team will play each other in one home or away series that will include three ODIs over a two and a half year period. As such, each side is guaranteed at least 21 ODIs over the tournament period.

With the world’s top eight ranked sides participating in the tournament, three series of three ODIs each were played in the lead up to South Africa-Sri Lanka series, with Australia and West Indies sweeping side Pakistan and New Zealand respectively, and England beating India by 2-0 with one match washed-out.

Forthcoming  Proteas Women’s fixtures:

India v South Africa

23 Nov – First ODI, Bangalore
25 Nov – Second ODI, Bangalore
27 Nov – Third ODI, Bangalore

Points table:

Note – two points for a win, no point for a loss and one point for a no-result

ICC Women’s ODI Team Rankings:

The ICC Women’s Championship is being contested by the following eight teams who have been seeded according to their rankings following the ICC Women’s World Cup India 2013:

1. Australia
2. West Indies
3. England
4. New Zealand
5. Sri Lanka
6. South Africa
7. India
8. Pakistan

 Following the completion of the round-robin matches, the final standings of the points table will represent each team’s final event ranking, and the top four teams will automatically qualify for the ICC WWC 2017.