Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: India’s star batter Smriti Mandhana has retained the top spot in the latest ICC Women’s ODI Batting Rankings released on Tuesday. Her captain Harmanpreet Kaur also maintained her position, staying at eighth place in the rankings.However, Jemimah Rodrigues slipped one place to 12th after India suffered a 0-3 defeat in the ODI series against Australia.
Meanwhile, several New Zealand players made significant gains in the latest rankings update.The White Ferns have been in impressive form at home, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead over Zimbabwe in their three-match ODI series. New captain Amelia Kerr has been at the forefront of their success with both bat and ball.Kerr picked up four wickets in the opening match and followed it up with a sensational seven-wicket haul in the second game in Dunedin, becoming just the seventh player in women’s ODI history to take seven or more wickets in an innings.Her outstanding performance helped Kerr jump five places to 11th in the ICC Women’s ODI Bowling Rankings, while the 25-year-old also climbed one spot to fifth in the ICC Women’s ODI All-Rounder Rankings.Kerr was not the only New Zealand player to gain from the first two matches of the series. Brooke Halliday surged eight places to 11th, while Maddy Green moved up four spots to joint 22nd in the ODI batting rankings following strong performances.Halliday produced a stunning knock of 157* off just 117 balls in the series opener, while Green scored 67 in the same match and followed it up with an unbeaten 27 in the second game.There were also changes in the latest ICC Women’s T20I Rankings following the completion of West Indies team’s three-match home series against Sri Lanka team, with less than three months remaining before the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales.Left-handed opener Hasini Perera scored an unbeaten half-century to help Sri Lanka win the series in the third and final match in St George’s. She climbed 15 places to 28th in the T20I batting rankings following that performance.Young batter Imesha Dulani also made progress, moving up 17 spots to joint 72nd after scoring an unbeaten 34 in the series decider.Sri Lankan all-rounder Kavisha Dilhari improved her rankings as well, rising three places to 21st among T20I bowlers and two spots to 11th in the all-rounders’ list.For the West Indies, veteran spinner Afy Fletcher was the biggest mover. She climbed four places to seventh in the T20I bowling rankings after picking up three wickets in the final two matches of the series against Sri Lanka.
