NEW DELHI: India batter Smriti Mandhana and Australia spinner Alana King have climbed to the top of the ICC Women’s ODI batting and bowling rankings, respectively, in the latest update released on Tuesday.
The pair achieved the milestone following three ODIs played within a week. Mandhana’s scores of 58 and 31 were enough to surpass Laura Wolvaardt (790), who will have an opportunity to reclaim the top spot when South Africa faces New Zealand in March and April.
Meanwhile, King (775) ended Sophie Ecclestone’s nearly four-year reign atop the bowlers’ rankings. Across the week, King claimed seven wickets at an average of 16.71, including a 4-33 haul from 10 overs in the third ODI, helping Australia secure a 185-run victory. Her rating of 775 also marks a career high.
King is joined by four other Australian bowlers in the top eight: Ash Gardner (third), Annabel Sutherland (fifth), Megan Schutt (seventh), and Kim Garth (eighth).
Other notable performers from the series also enjoyed rankings boosts. After losing two of three T20Is on home soil, Australia bounced back to claim all three ODIs in the multi-format series. Beth Mooney, Gardner, and Alyssa Healy, who retired from ODIs after the series, featured prominently. Healy finished her ODI career with a century in her final match, closing in fourth place on the batting rankings (744), nestled between Mooney (749) and Gardner (724).
Despite losing all three matches, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur climbed four spots to ninth in the batter rankings (652), with scores of 53, 54, and 25.
In the ODI All-Rounder Rankings, Gardner (516) holds the top position, nearly 100 rating points ahead of West Indies’ Hayley Matthews (418) in second. Sutherland (408) moved up two spots, while young Australian Georgia Voll made a massive 23-spot jump to 34th in the batting rankings after averaging 54 across the three ODIs.
Agencies