Cricket: Nigeria women up four spots in world rankings

The Nigeria women’s cricket national team has moved up four places in the latest International Cricket Council T20 rankings, jumping from 28th to 24th position in the world and sixth in Africa, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The Nigeria women’s senior team’s last engagement was in June, but this rating was enhanced by the achievement of the U-19 women’s team at the just-concluded ICC T20 Women’s World Cup Africa Qualifier in Kigali, Rwanda, where Nigeria picked Africa’s ticket to the 2025 World Cup.

Earlier this year, the Nigerian women were ranked 26th in the world after their bronze-winning feat at the African Games in Ghana.

According to the Nigeria Cricket Federation, the ICC ranks the performance of countries within a stipulated time for the rankings, and not just the senior national team.

South Africa are still top of the chart in Africa despite dropping from fifth to sixth in the world, while Zimbabwe are ranked 14th, Namibia 17th, Uganda 18th, Tanzania 19th, and Rwanda 26th. Kenya 28th, Botswana 44th, Sierra Leone 45th, and Malawi 54th.

Australia are world number one in the T20 format, ahead of England and India.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s men’s team’s position remains unchanged, in 36th place and the seventh-best nation in Africa.

India maintained their supremacy in the men’s category ahead of Australia and the West Indies.