Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma Among For ICC Women's Player Of The Month Nominees

05.08.2024 - 14:12 sports.ndtv.com

India openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, along with Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu have been nominated for ICC Women's Player of the Month award for July 2024.

Smriti, the left-handed opener and India's vice-captain, is aiming to make it back-to-back success after winning the ICC Women's Player of the Month award in June 2024, after making 273 runs at an average of 68.25 with a strike rate of 139.28 in T20Is in July.

She continued her prolific run into July, beginning with a career-best 149 in the one-off Test against South Africa at Chennai.

Along with fellow nominee Shafali, she added 292 runs for the first wicket, which was the highest-ever partnership for the first wicket in Women's Tests, setting the base for India winning the match by 10 wickets.

cricket India Women Asia Cup Smriti Mandhana Chamari Athapaththu Shafali Verma South Africa India Sri Lanka

India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has jumped one spot to third in the latest ICC ODI rankings for women released on Tuesday. Mandhana, who has 738 rating points, is the top-ranked Indian batter in the 50-over format while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur retained her ninth position. Sri Lanka's star batter Chamari Athapaththu has slipped behind Mandhana to fourth place but compatriots Nilakshika de Silva (up three places to 32nd), Harshitha Samarawickrama (up eight places to 44th) and Kavisha Dilhari (up four places to 50th) moved up in the ODI batting rankings.

UAE Possible Candidate To Host Women's T20 World Cup 2024, Bangladesh Ask For More Time

With Jay Shah, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ruling out India hosting the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as a potential host for the tournament. At the same time, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has asked for more time to save the tournament from being moved out of the country. In May this year, the ICC had unveiled the schedule of Women's T20 World Cup to be hosted by Bangladesh from October 3-20, with warm-up matches scheduled to begin from September 27.

Smriti Mandhana, Renuka Thakur Move Up In ICC T20I Rankings After Asia Cup

India's Smriti Mandhana moved up to fourth place in the list of batters, while seamer Renuka Singh Thakur was ranked fifth among bowlers, in the latest ICC T20I rankings issued on Tuesday. India opener and vice-captain Mandhana, who scored a vital 60 in the Women's T20 Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka, moved up one place to fourth with 743 rating points. Among bowlers, Renuka, who snapped seven wickets in the tournament, is ranked fifth with 722 rating points as she moved up four places.

"One Odd Game, Didn't Play Well": India Head Coach Amol Muzumdar Reflects On Women's Asia Cup Final Loss

Indian women's cricket team head coach Amol Muzumdar said the side didn't play up to their potential in the Women's Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka and lost the record-extending eighth continental title in Dambulla on Sunday. Indian bowlers failed to defend the 166 target against the hosts as Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu (61) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (69*) slammed half-centuries to take the side over the line with eight balls to spare. Kavisha Dilhari remained unbeaten on 30 off 16 balls including two sixes and a four.

"We Will Remember This Day": Harmanpreet Kaur After India's Women's Asia Cup Final Loss

A distraught India captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted that there is room for a lot of improvement before the upcoming T20 World Cup and her team won't easily forget the eight-wicket humbling at the hands of Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final here on Sunday. India scored a decent 165 for 6 but rival skipper Chamari Athapaththu (62) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (69 not out) were severe on the visiting bowlers, finishing the match in 18.4 overs. The women's T20 World Cup will be held in Bangladesh later this October.

Chamari Athapaththu, Harshitha Samarawickrama Sparkle As Sri Lanka Beat India By 8 Wickets To Lift Women's Asia Cup

Captain Chamari Athapaththu's turbo-charged fifty combined well with the steadfast half-century of Harshitha Samarawickrama as a resilient Sri Lanka carved an eight-wicket win over defending champions India to bag their maiden women's Asia Cup title in Dambulla on Sunday. This is the second time in nine Asia Cup editions (WODI and WT20I) across formats that India have lost a final. The last time India lost the final was against Bangladesh in 2018 in Kuala Lumpur. Tasked with hunting down a strong target of 166, Sri Lanka served well by Athapaththu (61b, 43b, 9x4, 2x6) and Samarawickrama (69 not out, 51b, 6x4, 2x6) and finished at 167 for two in 18.4 overs.