Batting in one-day cricket demands a balance of skill, temperament, and adaptability, with the finest performers shaping matches through consistency and brilliance. Here is a look at the greatest ODI batters in the women’s game, ranked according to the ICC all-time rankings.
The figures below represent the highest ICC rating each batter achieved at any point in their ODI career.
1. Karen Rolton
901 v India, 2004
Karen Rolton was a cornerstone of Australia’s ODI dominance, playing 141 matches - then a record - between 1995 and 2019 and scoring 4,814 runs at an average of 48.14. To date, only Mithali Raj has made more runs at a better average than her in the format. A free-flowing left-hander, she scored eight centuries and 33 fifties, including a decisive hundred in the 2005 World Cup final that secured Australia the title. She ended her career without scoring a duck in her last 104 ODI innings. Rolton became Australia’s captain in 2006 and guided the side to notable series wins against India and New Zealand. In recognition of her consistency and impact, Rolton was named the inaugural ICC Women’s Player of the Year in 2006, cementing her place among the finest in the format.
2. Belinda Clark
898 v New Zealand, 2000
Belinda Clark transformed women’s ODIs with her prolific run-making and outstanding captaincy. In 118 matches between 1991 and 2005, she scored 4,844 runs at 47.49, including five hundreds and 30 fifties, and remains one of the format’s most reliable openers. She became the first cricketer to score an ODI double century, making an unbeaten 229 against Denmark at the 1997 World Cup in Mumbai, a record that stood for 21 years. Clark also holds the record for scoring the most runs in a calendar year - 970 - which she amassed in 1997. No other batter has made over 900 runs in a year thus far. Her knock of 91 from the 2000 World Cup final ranks as Wisden's fifth-best women's innings of the 2000s.
3. Debbie Hockley
887 vs Australia, 2000
Deborah Hockley became the first woman to appear in 100 ODIs in a career that spanned 18 years. Between 1982 and 2000, she played 118 matches and scored 4,064 runs at an average of 41.89, including four centuries and 34 fifties. Hockley thrived on the biggest stage, making two World Cup hundreds and becoming the first player to pass 1,500 runs in the tournament. By the time she retired, she had also become the first woman to cross 4,000 ODI runs.
4. Mithali Raj
880 v Australia, 2004
A true trailblazer of women’s cricket, Mithali Raj carried India’s batting for over two decades and set records unlikely to be surpassed. She scored 7,805 runs at 50.68 in 232 ODIs, including 71 fifty-plus scores, a record. Debuting at 16 with an unbeaten 114, she became the all-time leading run-scorer in women’s ODIs by 2017, while also registering the longest ODI career in the format at nearly 23 years. Twice she captained India to World Cup finals, with the 2017 tournament standing out as a watershed moment for women’s cricket.
5. Meg Lanning
878 v New Zealand, 2016
Meg Lanning announced herself on the international stage at 18, scoring an unbeaten 103 against England to become Australia’s youngest centurion. Within a year, she smashed the fastest ODI hundred by an Australian, reaching 100 in just 45 balls. She assumed the captaincy at 22, becoming the youngest-ever Australian to hold the role and quickly establishing a reputation for tactical acumen, leading Australia to multiple World Cup titles. She finished her career with 4,602 runs at 53.51, making 15 hundreds, the most in women’s cricket.
6. Claire Taylor
868 v India, 2009
Claire Taylor emerged as one of England’s most accomplished ODI batters after making her debut in 1998. In 2006, she set a World Cup record at Lord’s with 156 against India, surpassing Viv Richards’ score of 138* at the venue in 1979. Over her career, she played 126 ODIs, scoring 4,101 runs at an average of 40.20, including eight centuries and 23 fifties. She was placed at No.1 when the ICC launched their women’s ODI batting rankings, and also became the first woman to be named Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year in 2009.
7. Emily Drumm
843 v England, 2002
Emily Drumm debuted for New Zealand at just 17 and went on to become one of the country’s most consistent ODI performers. Across a career spanning 14 years, she played 101 ODIs, scoring 2,844 runs at 35.11, including two centuries and 19 fifties. As captain, she led New Zealand to a memorable World Cup triumph at home in 2000, in which she made two fifties and an unbeaten 108 against South Africa.
8. Sarah Taylor
834 v Australia, 2009
Sarah Taylor emerged as one of England’s finest ODI batters, combining elegance with devastating timing. She scored 4,056 runs in 126 ODIs at an average of 38.26, and rose to her highest batting ranking after a fine run in 2008, where she averaged 45 from 17 innings, scoring 630 runs. Taylor was also arguably the finest wicketkeeper the game has ever seen, before she took an early retirement due to mental health reasons.
9. Denise Annetts
833 v India, 1993
Denise Annetts made her ODI debut in 1985 for Australia, playing 43 ODIs over eight years. She never recorded a duck in her career, and had her best years towards the end: In her last two years in ODI cricket, Annetts scored 415 runs - including her first and only ODI hundred - at an average of 51.87, which also propelled her to a career rating of 833 points.
10. Lisa Sthalekar
827 points v India, 2008
Lisa Sthalekar played 125 ODIs, scoring 2,728 runs at 30.65. She had her best year in 2007, where, in 10 games, she scored 463 runs at an average of 92.60. Only two others have made more runs at a better average in women’s ODIs in a calendar year. Her performances earned her the 2007 Australian Women’s International Cricketer of the Year and a shortlist for the inaugural ICC Women’s Player of the Year.
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