New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) Ahead of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, Team India vice captain Smriti Mandhana has reclaimed the top spot in the latest ICC Women’s ODI batting rankings. The opening batter dethroned England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt after a fine half-century against Australia in the series opener on Sunday.

Mandhana notched up 58 off 63 deliveries as India took on Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series at New Chandigarh. For her knock at the top of the order, Mandhana received seven rating points and now stands four points ahead of the England captain.

This comes as a positive for Team India as they gear up for the 13th edition of the ICC Women’s World Cup. While Mandhana’s opening partner, Pratika Rawal, gained crucial points after her half-century and jumped four spots up to the 42nd rank, Harleen Deol rose to the 43rd spot after her 54-run knock against Australia.

Following their eight-wicket win against hosts India, several Australian batters also earned a handful of rating points. Beth Mooney jumped to the fifth spot from eighth after her 74-ball 77* in the series opener.

Annabel Sutherland (up four spots) and Phoebe Litchfield (up 13 spots) jointly share the 25th rank. Notably, the former scored an unbeaten 54, while the latter emerged as the top scorer for her side with an 80-ball 88.

Speaking of the recently concluded match, India posted 281 runs in their 50-overs quota, with the top order batters- Rawal, Mandhana and Deol- hitting half-centuries. However, it proved to be a low score to defend against Australia, who clinched an eight-wicket win.

The Indian bowlers failed to restrict the visitors as the Alyssa Healy-led side kicked off their campaign with a win, thereby taking a 1-0 lead. Litchfield’s 88-run knock was the highlight of Australia’s chase, followed by Mooney’s 77*.

— IANS

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