India all-rounder Deepti Sharma has reached a major career milestone by climbing to the top of the ICC Women’s T20I Bowling Rankings for the first time, while South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt has reclaimed the No.1 spot in the ICC Women’s ODI Batting Rankings, according to the latest weekly update released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday.
Deepti Sharma reaches T20I bowling summit
Deepti’s rise to the summit follows her tidy spell of 1 for 20 in the opening T20I of India’s home series against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam. The off-spinner edged past Australia pacer Annabel Sutherland by a single rating point to claim the top position with 737 points, underlining her consistency and match-winning control in the shortest format.
Wolvardt’s Twin Centuies Power Odi Rankings Surge
Wolvaardt, meanwhile, stamped her authority in the ODI rankings after producing back-to-back centuries in South Africa’s home series against Ireland. Scores of 124 and an unbeaten 100 in the second and third matches, respectively, helped her open up a nine-point lead over India opener Smriti Mandhana and soar to a career-best 820 rating points.
There were notable gains for other Indian batters as well. Jemimah Rodrigues, who was named Player of the Match in Visakhapatnam, jumped five places to ninth in the T20I batting rankings following her unbeaten 69 off 44 balls. Sri Lanka opener Vishmi Gunaratne also made progress, rising six spots to 64th after her knock of 39.
In the T20I bowling charts, India’s Arundhati Reddy climbed five places to 36th, while Shree Charani made a significant leap of 19 positions to reach 69th.
The ODI rankings also saw movement from Ireland and South Africa players. Ireland captain Gaby Lewis advanced four places to 18th after scores of 45 and 64, while team-mate Amy Hunter moved up from 31st to 28th. For South Africa, Sune Luus rose seven places to 34th, and Dane van Niekerk jumped 24 spots to 95th. Among bowlers, Ireland seamer Arlene Kelly improved from 32nd to 27th, while South Africa’s Tumi Sekhukhune climbed from 78th to 67th after both claimed three wickets across the two matches during the past week.
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