Dubai: India’s top-order batter Smriti Mandhana has risen two places, to fifth, while captain Mithali Raj continues to hold on to her second position in the latest Women’s ODI Player Rankings for Batters released on Tuesday.
Mandhana, on 710 points, has displaced South Africa’s Lizelle Lee (702) and England’s Tammy Beaumont (696) in the ranking, which is led by Australia’s Alyssa Healy (742 points).
Meanwhile, dominant performances in the first two ODIs of the Women’s Ashes have seen several Australian players climb the charts in ODI Player Rankings. Having dropped to the second spot after the series against India in September 2021, Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry is back at the top of the Women’s ODI Player Rankings for All-rounders with 407 points. India’s Deepti Sharma is fourth with 299 points.
Perry was the ‘Player of the Match’ in the second ODI, first returning figures of 3/12 to reduce England to 129 all out, before scoring a 40 off 64 balls to take Australia close to victory. Perry also made huge gains in the bowlers’ rankings, rising seven spots to break into the top-10 and occupying the No.9 spot.
There hasn’t been much for England to cheer about in the ODI leg of the Ashes but Katherine Brunt’s all-round brilliance in the first ODI, where she finished with 3/12 and scored 32 not out, sees her gain three spots to No.5 in the all-rounders’ rankings. Brunt also jumped a spot to No.6 in the bowlers’ rankings.
Despite England ending up on the losing side in the first two ODIs, Sophie Ecclestone bowled economically and jumped to third with a career-best 717 rating points in the ODI Player Rankings for Bowlers, which has India’s Jhulan Goswami in second spot.
Perry’s teammate Beth Mooney too climbed the charts for batters, rising five places to occupy the third spot behind Mithali Raj after a Player-of-the-Match-winning 73 in the first ODI of the series.
Tahlia McGrath played a crucial role in Australia sealing the ODI series in the first two ODI, with 48 runs and five wickets. Her strong showing reflected across all three departments in the rankings, where she rose six spots to No.41 for batters, a massive 32 spots to No.52 to bowlers and 20 spots to No. 31 for all-rounders.
The recently-concluded ODI series between South Africa and West Indies also caused some movement in the latest ICC Rankings. West Indies, who were 1-0 down after the first two ODIs, won the final two matches to take the series 2-1.
Opener Laura Wolvaardt broke into the top 10 for batters with a century in the third ODI and a vital 23 that set up South Africa’s win in the decider. She rose four places to No. 9.
Shabnim Ismail, the Player of the Match in the decider for figures of 4/44, climbed to No.5 in the Bowlers’ Rankings while Ayabonga Khaka rose a place to No.7.
IANS