Follow UsAustralia Women's all-rounder Annabel Sutherland has not played a single T20 International (T20I) since March. Yet she has pipped Pakistan's Sadia Iqbal to become the No. 1-ranked bowler in the format. How did that happen?
Sutherland reached the top of the rankings after Iqbal's underwhelming performances against Ireland Women in the recently concluded series, which Pakistan lost 1-2. As a result, Iqbal has dropped to joint-second in the rankings alongside India's Deepti Sharma with 732 rating points.
Iqbal picked up just three wickets in the series at 27.66 apiece at an economy of under seven. Sutherland and Australia, on the other hand, last played a T20I in March, when they whitewashed New Zealand 3-0.
After starting her Women's Premier League (WPL) career with Gujarat Giants (GG) in 2023, the all-rounder moved to Delhi Capitals (DC) for the next couple of seasons, making the final with the latter on both occasions. Overall, she has nine wickets at an economy rate of 7.56 and 150 runs at a strike rate of 109.48 in 17 WPL matches so far.