South Africa’s Tazmin Brits and Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner have forced their way into the top five of the ICC women’s one-day international batting rankings after timely hundreds at the World Cup.
Brits climbs two places to fourth following her 89-ball 101 against New Zealand on Monday night, while Gardner vaults seven spots to fifth thanks to last week’s 115 from 83 deliveries, also against the White Ferns. The top three – India’s Smriti Mandhana, England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt and Australia’s Beth Mooney – remain unchanged, but the surge of Brits and Gardner nudges Ellyse Perry, Laura Wolvaardt, Amy Jones, Hayley Matthews, Alyssa Healy and Marizanne Kapp down the list.
Further movement comes from New Zealand captain Sophie Devine, who jumps seven places to eighth, and Pakistan opener Sidra Amin, up three to a share of tenth with Chamari Athapaththu. Devine’s 197 runs in two innings make her the tournament’s leading scorer despite New Zealand’s winless start, while Amin’s 81 against India has pushed her to sixth on the World Cup run-scorers’ chart.
The ICC’s high-performance team noted in its weekly release that “consistent impact, rather than isolated knocks, is what the algorithm rewards – Brits and Gardner have managed both this month.”
For Brits, the latest century continues an extraordinary 2025. Since April she has posted scores of 109, 101, 101, 171, 5 and 101; no woman had previously registered five ODI hundreds in a calendar year. Speaking after Monday’s victory, the opener played down the numbers. “I’m enjoying my cricket and trying to stay present ball by ball. Records are lovely but they only come when you’re helping the team,” she told the host broadcaster.
Gardner took a similar line when asked about her own rise. “Our focus is still on lifting the trophy, rankings can take care of themselves,” the Australian all-rounder said in her post-match media conference.
Full tables are available on the ICC website, but the headline is clear: consistent runs at the World Cup are being rewarded immediately, and a handful of in-form batters are putting real pressure on the long-established order.
