West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has made a stunning return to the top five of the ICC Women’s ODI batting rankings following her explosive performance against Thailand in the Women’s World Cup 2025 Qualifier in Lahore.
Matthews, who was named Player of the Match for her blistering 70 off just 29 balls, spearheaded a dominant chase that saw the West Indies secure victory by six wickets with a staggering 235 balls remaining.
Her heroics propelled her up two spots to fifth in the rankings, just one place shy of her career-best fourth position.
Despite the emphatic win, the West Indies narrowly missed out on qualification for the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in India, falling short by a mere 0.013 net run rate behind Bangladesh, who secured the second qualifying spot behind hosts Pakistan.
The latest ICC rankings also saw notable movements for West Indies’ bowlers. Leg-spinner Afy Fletcher matched her career-best ranking of 21st after impressive spells of 4-20 against Thailand and 2-43 against Bangladesh.
Off-spinner Karishma Ramharack also climbed five places to 25th, reinforcing the West Indies’ strong spin presence in the rankings.
Christeen Motsinger
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