India all-rounder Deepti Sharma and South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt were the biggest movers in the latest ICC Women’s player rankings released on Tuesday, with both reclaiming the top spots in different formats in their respective domains. While Deepti became the top-ranked T20I bowler for the first time in her career, Wolvaardt is now the number 1 ranked batter in the world in ODIs.
Smriti Mandhana loses top batting spot in ODIs
Wolvaardt, meanwhile, has regained the top position in the ICC Women’s ODI Batting Rankings after a prolific series against Ireland. The South Africa skipper struck back-to-back centuries- 124 and an unbeaten 100- in the second and third ODIs, opening up a nine-point gap over India opener Smriti Mandhana and displacing her from the top spot of the batting rankings. Wolvaardt now sits on a career-best 820 rating points.
Jemimah Rodrigues climbs five places in T20I rankings
There were further gains for Indian players in the T20I rankings. Jemimah Rodrigues, who was Player of the Match in Visakhapatnam, climbed five places to ninth among batters after her unbeaten 69. Sri Lanka opener Vishmi Gunaratne also made progress, moving up six spots to 64th. In bowling, India’s Arundhati Reddy advanced five places to 36th, while Shree Charani jumped 19 positions to 69th.
In the ODI rankings, Ireland captain Gaby Lewis moved up four places to 18th following scores of 45 and 64, while team-mate Amy Hunter climbed to 28th. South Africa’s Sune Luus and Dane van Niekerk also registered notable gains. Among bowlers, Ireland’s Arlene Kelly and South Africa’s Tumi Sekhukhune moved up after three-wicket hauls in the past week.