New Delhi, 23 December (H.S.): Indian women's cricket all-rounder Deepti Sharma has ascended to the number-one position in the ICC T20I bowling rankings for the first time in her career, propelled by her outstanding performance in the opening match of the home T20I series against Sri Lanka.

According to the ICC's official website, Deepti delivered a miserly spell of 1/20 in four overs during the match played in Visakhapatnam, which India won by eight wickets.Australia's Annabel Sutherland, who had held the top spot since August, was displaced by Deepti's efforts.The performance earned Deepti five rating points, placing her at the summit with a slender one-point lead.

Significant changes also swept through the ODI women's batting rankings. South Africa's captain Laura Wolvaardt reclaimed the number-one position from India's Smriti Mandhana after smashing a brilliant century in the final match of the home ODI series against Ireland.

Wolvaardt notched up centuries in the last two games, powering South Africa to a 3-0 series sweep and achieving her career-best rating score in the process. Mandhana has now slipped to second place.

Other Indian players also made notable gains. Arundhati Reddy surged five places to 36th in the T20I bowling rankings, while Jemimah Rodrigues climbed five spots to ninth in T20I batting following her unbeaten half-century against Sri Lanka, which earned her the Player of the Match award.Rodrigues joins Mandhana (third) and Shafali Verma (10th) in the T20I batting top 10.

South Africa's Sune Luus registered strong improvements, jumping seven places to 34th in ODI batting and 11 spots to 22nd in ODI all-rounders.Ireland's players benefited too: Arlene Kelly rose five places to 27th in ODI bowling, while Gaby Lewis (18th, up four) and Amy Hunter (28th, up three) advanced in ODI batting rankings.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar