South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt became the top-ranked ODI batter in the world after the conclusion of the Women's World Cup, overtaking India's Smriti Mandhana. While both players gave stellar performances with the bat throughout the tournament, it was Wolvaardt who finished as the highest scorer with 571 runs from nine innings. This is the highest run tally ever recorded by an individual player in the history of the tournament.

Wolvaardt reigns supreme

On the other hand, Mandhana too had a brilliant World Cup campaign and finished with 434 runs from 9 innings, including two half-centuries and a hundred.

Despite playing a key role in taking India to the knockouts, Mandhana lost the top spot to Wolvaardt. The latter scored two centuries and three fifties during the tournament and was undoubtedly her team's top performer.

The Proteas skipper jumped two places and is now at the top of the rankings with a record tally of 814 rating points, pipping Mandhana down by just three points. Another player who dropped down a place in the rankings was Australia's Ashleigh Gardner, who is now at third with 738 rating points.

Wolvaardt scores consecutive tons.

Wolvaardt's last two innings in the tournament were nothing short of incredible.

She first led her team to a mammoth total of 319/7 with a stunning knock of 169 runs. The Proteas would eventually go on to bundle out England for only 194 to win the match by 125 runs and move into the final. She was also the lone warrior in the Proteas' failed attempt to chase down 299 runs in the final.
The 26-year-old played a fine knock of 101, but it wasn't enough on the day as South Africa got bundled out for 246 and lost the final to India by 52 runs.

It was Deepti Sharma who got her massive wicket, which shifted all momentum towards the hosts. Notably, Amanjot Kaur completed an incredibly difficult catch to ensure that Wolvaardt departed back to the pavilion.