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New Delhi: Indian opener Shafali Verma has climbed two spots to occupy the sixth place in the ICC women’s T20I batting rankings released on Tuesday. Shafali’s jump comes on the back of her half-century against South Africa in the ongoing five-match T20I series.

ThoughIndia women lost the second T20I against South Africa by eight wickets to slip to 0-2 in the series but Shafali proved her mettle once against striking 57 off 38 balls. The Women in Blue had also been defeated in the opening match of the series at the same venue by 6 wickets, with Shafali scoring 34 runs.

Meanwhile, India’ vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has slipped one place to sit at the fourth spot after an underwhelming show in the two matches of the T20I series so far. The opening batter just managed 13 and 12 runs respectively and hence was surpassed by West Indies’ Hayley Matthews at the number three spot.

Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has climbed two places and is now on the brink of entering the top 10, currently placed 11th. He unbeaten score of 47 in the first T20I helped her gain the rank. India’s World Cup hero Jemimah Rodrigues has dropped four places and is now ranked 14th among batters after a poor run of form with the bat.

Ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup scheduled to begin in June in England and Wales, the series becomes crucial for both the teams. On the other hand, South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt has retained her fifth position among T20I batters, sitting behind Australia’s Georgia Voll, after a fine half-century in the second match against India.

As far as the bowlers are concerned, India bowlers Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur, and Arundhati Reddy have all slipped in the rankings. Deepti has dropped two places to fifth, while Renuka has fallen four spots to ninth. Arundhati, meanwhile, has moved out of the top 10 after slipping three places to 12th.

(With PTI inputs)