Chamari Athapaththu becomes world number 1 ODI batter, joins Sanath Jayasuriya in elite club of Sri Lankan players

Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu has made history by becoming the first women's cricketer from the island nation to top the ICC ODI Rankings for Batters. In the latest rankings released by the ICC today (July 4), Chamari dethroned Australia's Beth Mooney at the top of the batters' leaderboard.

Chamari was in phenomenal form during the recently concluded ICC Women's Championship series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. The Sri Lankan captain helped her team record their maiden ODI bilateral series win against the White Ferns, aggregating 248 runs in just three matches.

Thanks to Chamari Athapaththu's consistent performances against New Zealand, she has jumped from seventh to first position in the ICC Women's ODI Rankings for Batters. She has become only the second Sri Lankan batter to top the ICC ODI Rankings. In the past, Sanath Jayasuriya attained the pole position in the men's rankings.

Chamari's rise has pushed Beth Mooney, Laura Wolvaardt, Natalie Sciver, Meg Lanning, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Smriti Mandhana down by one spot each in the ICC Women's ODI Rankings for Batters.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Amelia Kerr has dropped out of the top 10. England's Tammy Beaumont has replaced her in the 10th position. Kerr scored a hundred in the second match against Sri Lanka Women, but could not retain her spot in the top 10.

Chamari Athapaththu created a unique world record during the 3rd ODI against New Zealand Women

In the series decider of the Sri Lanka vs New Zealand series, the White Ferns batted first and scored 127/2 in 31 overs. Quite surprisingly, Sri Lanka received a target of 196 runs off 29 overs to win via D/L method.

The Islanders did not give up. Their captain Chamari Athapaththu played an epic knock of 140 runs from 80 balls to guide her team home. In this match, Chamari became the first player to score more runs than the team batting first in an ODI match.