Mandhana advances towards top in latest ICC Women's Player Rankings

Dubai: Smriti Mandhana, India's swashbuckling opener, has improved significantly in the most recent ICC Women's Player Rankings update, moving up in both the ODI and T20I lists following some impressive performances in England.
The left-hander, a formerly top-ranked batter in ODIs, has moved up three slots to seventh position after a match-winning 91 in the first ODI of their ICC Women's Championship series against England, while her aggregate of 111 runs in a preceding three-T20I series has lifted her two places to a career-best second position in the shortest format. India captain Harmanpreet Kaur has advanced four places to ninth position in ODIs, all-rounder Deepti Sharma has gained one slot to reach 32nd position and wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia has progressed eight places to 37th after India's seven-wicket win in Hove on Saturday. Sharma has also progressed six places to 12th among bowlers.
For England, Emma Lamb and Sophie Ecclestone have gained three slots each and are 64th and 72nd among batters, respectively, while Charlie Dean is up to 86th in the list. Dean is also up four places to 20th among bowlers, while Kate Cross is in the top 10 after grabbing two wickets with her seam bowling.
The India-England T20I series also sees India's Kaur (up one place to 14th among batters), new-ball bowler Renuka Singh (up three places to 10th among bowlers) and spinner Radha Yadav (up four places to 14th among bowlers) make notable gains in Tuesday's update. All-rounders Sneha Rana and Pooja Vastrakar are in joint-41st position.
England's Sophia Dunkley is up 12 places to 32nd after leading the run aggregate with 115 runs in the T20I series while Alice Capsey is now 20th among batters.
Zimbabwe players Sharne Mayers (up 28 places to 39th among batters), captain Mary-Anne Musonda (up 10 places to 50th among batters) and Precious Marange (up 24 places to 34th among bowlers), who are featuring in the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi, have also moved up the rankings.
Earlier, half-centuries from opener Smriti Mandhana, captain Harmanpreet Kaur and wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia powered India to a seven-wicket win over England in the first ODI held in Hove on Sunday.
With this, India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. England posted a rather disappointing 227/7 in their 50 overs, with Alice Davidson-Richards (50*) and Danni Wyatt (43) being the top scorers. Deepti Sharma took a remarkable 2/33 with the ball. Chasing 221, fifties from Mandhana (91), Harmanpreet (74*) and Yastika (50) helped India brush off the English challenge with 34 balls to spare. (ANI)