Ellyse Perry regains No. 1 spot as ODI allrounder; Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone also rise

Beth Mooney's match-winning 73 in the first Ashes ODI helped break her into the top three on the batters' charts

08-Feb-2022

Ellyse Perry bowled a superb opening spell, Australia vs England, 3rd ODI, Women's Ashes, Melbourne, February 8, 2022

Australia veteran Ellyse Perry has regained the No. 1 ODI ranking for allrounders following an all-round show in the second Ashes ODI against England on Sunday. This comes barely months after she had slipped down to No. 2 after the multi-format home series against India last September-October. That apart, Perry also climbed up the bowlers' charts by rising up seven places to sit at No. 9.

While Perry's figures of 3 for 12 helped bowl the visitors out for 129 in Melbourne, she also hit 40 off 64 balls in the paltry run chase where the hosts had lost two early wickets. Eventually, Australia achieved a comfortable five-wicket win with more than 14 overs to spare, as she was declared Player of the Match.

Meanwhile, Perry's team-mate Beth Mooney benefitted in the batters' list by breaking into the top three for the first time in her six-year career, gaining five spots up to No. 3 after a match-winning innings of 73 in the first ODI against England. While wickets kept falling around her - Australia first collapsed from 60 for 1 to 67 for 4 before being reduced to 152 for 7 - Mooney's knock took only 91 deliveries, as England fell short by 27 runs and she was adjudged the Player of the Match.

Though England lost both those matches, they still had something to cheer about as Katherine Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone's performances pushed them up in the rankings charts. While Brunt's 3 for 40 and 32* in the first match helped her rise three places up to No. 5 among allrounders and one spot up to No. 6 in the bowlers' charts, Ecclestone's career-best 717 rating points helped her jump to third among bowlers.

Other gainers from the multi-format Ashes included Player of the Series Tahlia McGrath, who rose up the rankings across all three departments.

Also, after the recently-concluded four-ODI series between South Africa and West Indies, opener Laura Wolvaardt skipped four spots up to No. 9 among batters following knocks of 117 and 23 in the third and fourth games, respectively, as South Africa came from behind to win the series 2-1. Her team-mates Shabnim Ismail - who got 4 for 44 in the series decider - rose to No. 5 in the bowlers' charts and Ayabonga Khaka moved up to No. 7.