Pakistan retain seventh position in ICC womens championshi

DUBAI: Former world champion England have vaulted three places to third in the ICC Women’s Championship, after the conclusion of round five of seven following their convincing 3-0 series win over Pakistan in Taunton on Monday. England’s women won by seven wickets (in Leicester), 212 runs (in Worcester) and 202 runs (in Taunton) in what was a high-scoring series with the home side scoring 360 runs or more in the final two matches of the series and two England batters Tammy Beaumont and Lauren Winfield sharing three centuries between them. World champions and number-one ranked Australia lead the pack with 24 points with two rounds remaining, while the recently-crowned ICC Women’s World Twenty20 champions West Indies are close behind on 20 points.After pipping Pakistan, England have climbed to 19 points and in doing so, leapfrogged New Zealand (fourth), South Africa (fifth) and India (sixth). Pakistan retained their seventh position, while Sri Lanka are in eighth spot.The final two rounds of the inaugural edition of the ICC Women’s Championship are scheduled to be played between September and November, with the top four sides at the end of the competition qualifying for next year’s ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, which will be staged in England from June 26 to July 23. The bottom four sides will get a final chance of qualification through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in early 2017.The ICC Women’s Championship will resume in September with all eight sides scheduled to feature in the final two rounds, which will culminate in November.