Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues leap up in ICC ODI batters' rankings

Dubai: India’s Harleen Deol and Jemimah Rodrigues made substantial gains in the ICC women’s player rankings for batters released on Tuesday, following their impressive performances in the recently-concluded series against Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh shared the honours after the third and final ODI of the series ended in a tie in controversial circumstances. The Player of the Match in the final ODI, Deol advanced 32 places to reach 51st position while Rodrigues, who scored a match-winning 86 in the second ODI, is up by 41 places to reach 55th. Deol top-scored for India with 77 runs in the final match, following which skipper Harmanpreet Kaur blasted the on-field umpires at the presentation ceremony. Kaur is expected to be penalised by the ICC for her outburst and for damaging the equipment as she smashed the stumps with her bat after being adjudged out. The seasoned Deepti Sharma is the only Indian in the top 10 at the ninth spot in the rankings for bowlers while Sneh Rana is up by three places to 38th. Among players from other teams, England all-rounder Natalie Sciver-Brunt became the top-ranked batter for the first time in her career after smashing a match-winning century in the final ODI of their ICC Women’s Championship series, against Australia in Taunton last Tuesday. Sciver-Brunt’s 129 followed an unbeaten 111 in the previous match, which took her ahead of Australia’s Beth Mooney. She has also extended her lead at the top of the all-rounders’ rankings to 39 rating points over West Indies captain Hayley Matthews. Australia all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner is up two places to a career-best third in the all-rounders’ list while also attaining her highest positions in the batting and bowling rankings. Gardner is up four places to 21st among batters after scoring 41 in Taunton and fifth among bowlers, with a haul of three for 39 that followed two other three-wicket hauls. Other players to move up after the series are Danni Wyatt of England (up three places to 18th) and Australia’s Tahlia McGrath (up two places to 32nd) among batters, and England off-spinner Charlie Dean (up two places to 13th) among bowlers. The latest update also saw Bangladesh players Fargana Hoque and Nahida Akter attaining new highs. Hoque’s 565 rating points are the highest by a Bangladesh woman batter, and she is the first from her country to break into the top 20 (19th position) after scoring 107 in the tied final ODI in Mirpur. The previous best was Rumana Ahmed’s 25th position in February 2017. Left-arm spinner Akter’s figures of three for 37 in the final ODI helped her rise to 19th position in the bowling rankings. The previous best by a Bangladesh bowler was the 20th position, attained by Salma Khatun in December 2022.