Lucknow: Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut led India women to a nine-wicket win over South Africa after veteran fast bowler Jhulan Goswami took four wickets in the second ODI at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.
Smriti scored an unbeaten 80 off 64 balls. Her innings consisted of 10 fours and three sixes as India scored 160/1 in just 28.4 overs in reply to South Africa’s 157 all out in 40. The five-match ODI series is now level 1-1.
Meanwhile, India women’s ODI skipper Mithali Raj, a formerly top-ranked batter, remained firm at the ninth spot while swashbuckling batter Smriti Mandhana dropped one position to be at the seventh spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings. Mithali did gain four points after notching a half-century against South Africa in the first ODI but remained in the joint-ninth position with Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry.
On the other hand, India’s vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur gained one place to reach 17th position after her knock of 40 in the first ODI. Fast bowler Shabnim Ismail’s player of the match effort of three for 28 in the first ODI against India has lifted her two places to second position in the list led by left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen of Australia.
Ayabonga Khaka has gained three places to reach 10th position in what is another gain for a South Africa fast bowler. Openers Laura Wolvaardt (up one place to sixth) and Lizelle Lee (up three places to eighth) have also reaped rewards for their half-centuries. In the T20I rankings, England opener Tammy Beaumont has entered the top 20 after topping the run aggregate against New Zealand and helping sweep the series 3-0.
Beaumont’s 102 runs, which included a knock of 63 in the second match, won her the player of the series award while helping her gain four slots in the rankings. The surge in the T20I rankings comes on the back of a sterling performance in the preceding ODI series which helped her top the rankings for the first time and won her the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for February.