Smriti Mandhana moves up one spot, Harmanpreet drops to 8th position in ODI rankings

Smriti Mandhana has climbed to sixth position while team's captain Harmanpreet Kaur dropped two positions to 8th spot

Dubai: India batter Smriti Mandhana has climbed to sixth position while team’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur dropped two positions to 8th spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings released on Tuesday.

While England star Natalie Sciver-Brunt has been rewarded for her excellent recent form with No.1 ranking for ODI batters, two Bangladesh players created history in the latest ICC Women’s Player Rankings.

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Sciver-Brunt was at her best during the majority of the Ashes series against Australia, but the right-hander perhaps saved her top performances for the ODI component of the multi-format series as she compiled 271 runs at an average of 135.50, according to ICC.

It helped Sciver-Brunt rise one place and overtake Australia opener Beth Mooney as the No.1 ranked ODI batter in the world, with the 30-year-old achieving a career-high rating of 803 rating points.

Among the current players, Australia captain Meg Lanning had reached the highest 878 points. Sciver-Brunt now has premier ranking position in ODI cricket for both batters and all-rounders.

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Atapaththu is in second place behind Sciver-Brunt on the latest ODI batter rankings with Mooney dropping to third, while a host of England players also made ground following their 2-1 series triumph in the 50-over component of the Ashes.

Captain Heather Knight has risen two places to 12th, Danni Wyatt has jumped three spots to 18th, while Ash Gardner was the biggest mover from an Australian perspective as she moved four places to climb to 21st in the batter rankings, three spots on the bowler rankings to claim fifth place and two spots on the all-rounder rankings to go to third.

Sophie Ecclestone remains at the top of the rankings for ODI bowlers, while the England spinner also climbed two spots to equal 11th on the list for all-rounders following yet another impressive display for her country.

The recent ODI series between Bangladesh and India that finished at 1-1 saw some new highs, with experienced batter Fargana Hoque rewarded in the latest rankings update after she became the first player from her country to score an ODI century during the series.

Fargana hit a brilliant 107 in the third and final game of the series and it helped the right-hander jump 11 places to 19th overall and rise to a career-high 565 rating points.

The 30-year-old is the first Bangladesh woman to hold a place inside the top 20 of the ODI batter rankings, surpassing the previous best achieved by Rumana Ahmed in February 2017 when the right-hander was ranked 25th.

Nahida Akter was the big mover on the latest rankings for ODI bowlers, with the left-arm spinner jumping five spots to 19th which is the highest for any Bangladesh woman. Salma Khatun reached 20th with the ball in December last year.

Compatriots Sultana Khatun (up 21 spots to 57th) and Rabeya Khan (up 60 places to 63rd) also made ground in the rankings for ODI bowlers. Indian players Harleen Deol (up 32 spots to 51st) and Jemimah Rodrigues (up 41 places to 55th) improved in the list for batters.