Wolvaardt new No. 1 batter in ODIs after Mandhana slips to second
Laura Wolvaardt scored 65 off 37 balls • ICC via Getty Images
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt has reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the ICC women's ODI batting rankings, replacing India captain Smriti Mandhana, who has slipped to second following a quiet start to the home series against Zimbabwe.
Wolvaardt returns to the top for the first time since November 2025, beginning her ninth separate stint as the world's No. 1 ODI batter. She first reached the summit in March 2022. Mandhana, meanwhile, made 32 and 0 in the first two ODIs in Vadodara.
Several of Madhana's team-mates, though, made significant gains. Deepti Sharma was the biggest beneficiary, climbing in all three ODI rankings after taking five wickets across the two matches and scoring 106 off 86 balls in the second ODI. She rose four places to 23rd among batters, one place to eighth among bowlers and two places to fourth in the all-rounders' rankings.
Harmanpreet Kaur, who struck 126 off 121 balls in the second ODI, moved up two places to eighth in the batting rankings. Pratika Rawal also reached a career-best 21st position, jumping seven places after scoring her third ODI century, a 96-ball 100 in the opening match, followed by 61 off 67 deliveries in the second. Her rating of 598 points is also a career high.
Shafali Verma climbed 15 places to 73rd among ODI batters, while Kranti Gaud's 3 for 43 in the first match helped her move up two places to 25th in the bowling rankings. Gaud also rose three places to 33rd among all-rounders.
In the women's T20I rankings, Shafali moved up one place to third among batters, with Mandhana also gaining a position to fourth. The movements followed India's 3-0 T20I series sweep against Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, Australia's players made gains following their 2-0 T20I series victory over New Zealand in North Sydney, where the final match was washed out.
Ashleigh Gardner climbed nine places to 19th among T20I batters after smashing 84 off 45 balls in the second match, which Australia won by 40 runs. Georgia Wareham's 3 for 18 lifted her four places to joint-seventh among bowlers, while Kim Garth returned to the top ten with a five-place rise to joint-tenth.
New Zealand bowlers Bree Illing and Nensi Patel also improved their positions, climbing six places each to 17th and 29th respectively.
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