Smriti Mandhana inches closer to top spot in ICC ODI Rankings

NEW DELHI: India opener Smriti Mandhana on Tuesday climbed to the second spot in the latest ICC Women's ODI batting rankings following a stellar performance in the series against Ireland.
Mandhana, the only Indian in the top 10, scored a magnificent 135 in the third ODI, along with 41 and 73 in the first and second games, respectively.
The 28-year-old now has 738 ranking points, trailing South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt, who leads with 773 points, while Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu is in third with 733 points.
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Jemimah Rodrigues, who scored her maiden ODI century in the second match against Ireland, moved up two spots to 17th.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who missed the series, remains in 15th place.
In the all-rounders' rankings, Deepti Sharma secured the sixth spot with 344 points.
The list is led by Australia's Ashleigh Gardner, who delivered an outstanding performance in the Ashes, claiming four wickets and scoring 146 runs.
Gardner's exploits helped her overtake South Africa's Marizanne Kapp to claim the top position.
In the bowling rankings, led by England's Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti improved to fourth with 680 rating points.
Gardner also made significant strides, climbing to a career-high 469 rating points in the all-rounders' rankings, 25 points ahead of Kapp.
Additionally, Gardner reached a new career-best 648 rating points as a batter, breaking into the top 10 after climbing five spots.
Gardner’s standout performances included a scintillating run-a-ball 102 in Hobart, her maiden ODI century against England.
She also delivered a Player-of-the-Match performance in the first ODI at North Sydney Oval, taking 3 for 19 in 6.1 overs and scoring an unbeaten 42 off 44 balls to guide Australia to victory, setting the tone for their Ashes success.