Smriti Mandhana's historic century in Ahmedabad bolsters bid for ICC World No. 1 Ranking

India Women's National Cricket Team batter Smriti Mandhana has been rewarded for her performance in the third WODI against the New Zealand Women's National Cricket Team. The opening batter closed in on the top three of the ICC rankings for the Women's batter.

Smriti Mandhana played a valuable hand for her team in the series decider against the New Zealand Women's National Cricket Team. The opening batter brought her best and stepped up for her team in difficult situations and guided them to the series win.

Smriti Mandhana brought up her 8th ton in the WODIs and scripted history

Smriti Mandhana oozed her class with the bat at the Narendra Modi International Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. She brought up her 8th ton in the WODIs and scripted history in the Women's cricket. She surpassed Mithali Raj, who had slammed 7 centuries in her career, as a batter with most tons in the WODIs for India.

Smriti Mandhana ended with the innings of 100 runs off 122 balls. She had a strike rate of over 81 and also slammed 10 fours in her innings. Her staggering innings took India past the finishing line and won the series 2-1.

Smriti Mandhana moved from 703 to 728 ranking points in the ICC ODI rankings in women's cricket

After her heroics with the bat, Mandhana moved from 703 to 728 ranking points. She is now behind Athatpaththu's 733, with Laura Wolvaardt (756) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (760) in the ICC rankings for the Women's in ODIs. Apart from her, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur made a comeback into the top 10.

Harmanpreet Kaur, who scored unbeaten 59*, moved to 654 rating points and joined New Zealand's Sophie Devine in equal-ninth. The India captain, who was the team's leading run-getter in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024, carried her golden touch and played a powerful innings. Apart from her, New Zealand's Brooke Halliday also jumped 12 spots to 24th with 524 rating points under the belt.

Deepti Sharma extends her lead at the No.2 spot in ICC ODI Bowling rankings in Women's cricket

In terms of the ODI Bowling rankings, Deepti Sharma extended her lead at the No.2 spot. She returned with the figures of 3/39 in the final ODI against New Zealand and moved to 703 rating points. She gained 17 points lead from England's Kate Cross (686). Sophie Ecclestone stayed at the top with 770 ratings while Priya Mishra entered the top 100, thanks to figures of 2/41.

In terms of the ICC Women's all-rounder rankings, Lea Tahuhu, who played an innings of unbeaten 24 runs off 14 balls in Ahmedabad made gains. She climbed five spots up in the rankings and now sits at 27th position with 126 rankings points to her name. India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur moved two spots to 33rd and Suzie Bates also jumped up one spot to 35th.

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