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South Africa duo gain ground on latest player rankings update

A pair of stars from South Africa have been the biggest winners on the latest ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings.

Laura Wolvaardt scored a century in the second game of South Africa's ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka at home, with the skipper stroking a classy 110* to guide her side to victory with a Player of the Match performance.

It was Wolvaardt's sixth century for South Africa in 50-over cricket and saw the right-hander gain one place and improve to fifth behind top-ranked batter Nat Sciver-Brunt on the updated rankings.

Teammate Tazmin Brits scored her own century in the opening game of the three-match series and duly rose seven places to 38th on the same list for ODI batters, while Sri Lanka duo Kavisha Dilhari (up seven spots to 48th) and Nilakshi de Silva (up four to 49th) also made some ground following decent innings in the second contest against South Africa.

While wicket-less from the opening two matches of the series, South Africa veteran Marizanne Kapp has gained one place to improve to third on the updated list for ODI bowlers due to her excellent economy rate. Teammate Ayabonga Khaka also gains a spot to rise to equal seventh after three wickets in the second match of the series.

Sri Lanka trio Inoka Ranaweera (up one spot to 17th), Oshadi Ranasinghe (up 12 places to 34th) and Dilhari (up 10 spots to 57th) all make some ground on the list for ODI bowlers, while experienced skipper Chamari Athapaththu gains one spot to rise to 11th on the ODI rankings for all-rounders.

There is also some joy for a pair of sisters from Scotland, who have enjoyed good success with the bat during their side's ongoing tri-series against Papua New Guinea and USA.

Scotland skipper Kathryn Bryce stroked a brilliant 73 against PNG in Dubai and rose 16 places to 46th on the ODI rankings for batters as a result, while younger sister Sarah hit 84 against the USA at the same ground two days later and moved from outside the top 100 to 65th on the same list.

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