Smriti Mandhana jumps two places to world no. 4 in ICC Women's ODI batting rankings
Dubai, Feb 13: India opener Smriti Mandhana has jumped two spots to grab the fourth position in the latest ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings for batters.
The 27-year-old from Mumbai surpassed South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt, who slumped to fifth place after a lacklustre show in the ODI series against Australia.England's Nat Sciver Brunt, Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu and Australia's Beth Mooney occupy the top 3 positions in the batting chart, which also has India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur static at the 10th place.
Mandhana, who is set to represent the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Women's Premier League, last played ODIs in the bilateral series against Australia. She had made 63 runs at an average of 31.50.
In the bowling chart, which is headed by England's Sophie Ecclestone, spinner Deepti Sharma slipped a place to number four. The Indian, however, moved a place to the fifth spot in ODI allrounder list.
Among bowlers, South Africa's Marizanne Kapp has climbed seven places to take the second position after grabbing four wickets in the last two ODIs against Australia.
An all-round performance of 75 and 3/12 in the second match in North Sydney that helped South Africa register their first ever ODI victory over Australia also helped Kapp retain eighth position in batting and consolidate her top ranking in the list of all-rounders.
Kapp increased her points tally from 658 to 668 in the batting rankings and from 388 to 452 in the all-rounders' rankings.
Chloe-Tryon is another South Africa all-rounder to gain in the latest weekly rankings update, moving up one place to 20th among batters.
She advanced seven places to 43rd among bowlers and reached the top 10 for all-rounders for the first time.
Anneke Bosche (up 13 places to 68th among batters) and Masabata Klaas (up two places to 24th among bowlers) have also gained.
Australia too had several players moving up in the rankings after completing a 2-1 win with all-rounder Tahlia McGrath progressing four places to 30th among batters.
Tahila was named Player of the Match in the final ODI after smashing 44 off 35 balls and claiming 3/23. She also rose five places to 60th among bowlers and to 21st in the list of all-rounders.
Alana King (77th in batting and 13th in bowling) and Kim Garth (96th in batting and 28th in bowling) have also made notable progress.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
