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 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.
