Team India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana reclaimed the number one spot in the ICC ODI batting rankings for women, which were released on Tuesday. This rise in the rankings follows her half-century against Australia on Sunday, just weeks before the Women’s Cricket World Cup, which will begin on September 30. Mandhana’s momentum continued on Wednesday in the second match of the ongoing India vs Australia women’s ODI series. She hit a century in just 77 balls in the match at New Chandigarh to record the second-fastest hundred by an Indian woman.
As of 4 pm Wednesday, the Google search volume on Smriti Mandhana was over 100K. The heavy search volume came as the Indian vice-captain showed her exceptional batting prowess during the second India vs Australia (W) ODI match in New Chandigarh.
Rise in ranking and Mullanpur match
In the match at Mullanpur on Sunday, Mandhana scored 58 runs off 63 balls during the first game of the three-match series. Despite Mandhana’s standout performance, Australia won the match, taking a 1-0 lead. Her half-century also earned her seven additional rating points, giving her a four-point lead over England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt, who moved into second place.
Mandhana currently holds 735 rating points, while Sciver-Brunt has 731. According to ESPNcricinfo, this is the fourth time Mandhana has achieved the No. 1 ranking for ODI batters. She first did it in January 2019 and most recently in July before Sciver-Brunt overtook her.
Indian and Australian players in the list
Harmanpreet Kaur (12th) and Jemimah Rodrigues (15th) are the other Indian batters in the top 20. Indian opener Pratiak Rawal gained four positions, reaching the 42nd spot, while Harleen Deol secured the 43rd position after her 54 runs against Australia.
Australia’s Beth Mooney climbed three spots to fifth after scoring an unbeaten 77. Her teammates, Annabel Sutherland and Phoebe Litchfield, both share the 25th position, rising four and thirteen places, respectively, after their half-centuries contributed to their team’s victory.
In the ODI bowling rankings, Australian pacer Kim Garth and spinner Alana King both achieved new career highs, each moving up one spot to fourth and fifth place, respectively. Meanwhile, India’s spinner Sneh Rana jumped five places to 13th after taking a wicket in the first ODI. England’s Sophie Ecclestone remains the top-ranked bowler.