Smriti Mandhana rises to second spot in women’s ODI rankings

Jemimah Rodrigues, who scored her maiden hundred in the second ODI against Ireland, jumped two places at the 17th spot, while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who missed the series, is at the 15th spot

Dubai: India opener Smriti Mandhana inched closer to the top position, climbing to the second spot in the latest ICC women’s ODI batting rankings following a stellar series against Ireland.

Mandhana, the only Indian in the top 10, had blasted 135 in the third ODI, besides scoring 41 and 73 in the opening and second game. The 28-year-old currently has 738 points to her name, while South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt (773 points) is at the top, followed by Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu (733) in third place.

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Jemimah Rodrigues, who scored her maiden hundred in the second ODI against Ireland, jumped two places at the 17th spot, while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who missed the series, is at the 15th spot. Deepti Sharma, with 344 points, is placed at the sixth spot in the allrounders’ list which is headed by Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner, who claimed four wickets and scored 146 runs in the Ashes to claim the top spot from South Africa veteran Marizanne Kapp.

In the bowling rankings, headed by Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti also improved a spot to fourth with 680 rating points. Gardner was productive with both bat and ball, as the Aussies claimed all three ODIs against England down under.

She scored her first ODI ton against England, compiling a run-a-ball 102 in Hobart. That performance followed another Player-of-the-Match effort in the first One-Dayer at North Sydney Oval, where she took 19-3 off 6.1 overs before hitting 42 not out off 44 balls to steer Australia home and help the hosts get off to a strong Ashes start.

The Aussie is now up to a career-high 469 rating points in the All-Rounder ODI Rankings, 25 points ahead of the next-best Kapp. She has also set a new career-best of 648 rating points as a batter, having climbed five spots to break into the top 10 of the list.