Chamari Athapaththu becomes the first Sri Lankan woman to be ranked ODI No.1

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Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu scripted history by becoming the first player from her country to top the ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings released on Tuesday after a stellar performance with the bat in her team's 2-1 win over New Zealand.

Chamari Athapaththu becomes the first Sri Lankan woman to be ranked ODI No.1 - Chamari Athapaththu created history by becoming the first Sri Lankan player to top the ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings. Athapaththu jumped six places to overtake Australia opener Beth Mooney to reach the top spot on the back of her excellent series against New Zealand. An amazing inning of runs was also involved, which helped them register a series win.

The 33-year-old scored an unbeaten 108 in the three-match series opener and a first-ball duck in the second did not deter the confident left-hander's aggression in the series decider.

Athapaththu hit nine big sixes during her quickfire innings in the decider and added 190 runs for the third wicket with teammate Neelakshi de Silva to record Sri Lanka's highest partnership in women's ODIs.

This helped Athapaththu become the first Sri Lankan woman to top the women's ODI rankings, becoming only two players from the island nation to hold the No. 1 spot in the history of the ODI rankings with the bat, along with compatriot Sanath Jayasuriya.

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