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Opportunity for both New Zealand and Pakistan to top ICC T20I Rankings
New Zealand and Pakistan will have an opportunity to achieve number-one T20I ranking for the first time when they lock horns in the three-match series in Auckland on Friday, 15 January.
New Zealand, following its 2-0 win over Sri Lanka, has joined Pakistan on 114 points. The side which wins all the three matches in the forthcoming series will move ahead of the West Indies in number-one spot, and the losing side will drop to eighth position. The side that wins the series 2-1 will leapfrog South Africa into fifth position.
Afghanistan, which won its two-match series against Zimbabwe in Sharjah on Sunday, is now sitting on 80 points in ninth position after gaining three points. Zimbabwe, in contrast, has stayed in 14th position but has slipped to 50 points after conceding three points.
The ICC T20I Championship table is extremely tight with only eight points separating the top eight sides. With a number of Twenty20 Internationals to be played in the lead up to the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016, there is likely to be plenty of reshuffling at the top of the order.
To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the ICC T20I Championship, please click here. The T20I rankings table is updated after each match.
Meanwhile, there has been plenty of movement in the ICC T20I Player Rankings following the conclusion of the New Zealand-Sri Lanka and Afghanistan-Zimbabwe series.
The biggest movers in the latest rankings are Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper/batsman Mohammad Shahzad and fast bowler Dawlat Zadran. The two players have broken into the top 10 of the ICC T20I Player Rankings. For Shahzad it’s the first time in his career.
The opening batsman has jumped 12 places to eighth position after scoring 151 runs in two matches against Zimbabwe, including a 67-ball 118 not out in the second match. This is the highest T20I score ever by a batsman from an Associate Member and fourth overall.
Dawlat has squeezed his way into the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for T20I Bowlers, for a career-best eighth spot. This after Zadran took five wickets in the series, the highest by any bowler from either team, which has helped him move him up by six places. The medium-pace bowler bettering his previous best ranking of 10th achieved last year in Zimbawe after a similar 2-0 series victory over the hosts.
Mohammad Nabi and Hamza Hotak have also benefitted from the series. Nabi has moved up five places to 20th, while Hamza has vaulted 43 places to 38th position.
There is some good news for Zimbabwe as well, whose Graeme Cremer has achieved a career-high ranking of 14th. Cremer has gained six places after taking four wickets against Afghanistan.
Over in New Zealand, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro have stolen top honours.
Guptill, who broke his side’s record for fastest T20I half-century in the second match, has risen five places to fifth, while Munro, who improved Guptill’s record a few overs later in the same match has gained 28 places and is now in 66th spot.
Other batsmen to improve their rankings include Kane Williamson in 11th (up by three places), Angelo Mathews in 30th (up by eight places) and Ross Taylor in 41st (up by two places).
The batsmen’s list is headed by Australia’s Aaron Finch, followed by Virat Kohli of India and England’s Alex Hales.
The New Zealand bowlers to move up the order included Adam Milne, who has climbed four places to 36th in the latest rankings.
Samuel Badree of the West Indies is the number-one ranked bowler but India’s Ravichandran Ashwin has benefitted from Sachithra Senanayake and the injured Lasith Malinga’s slide to move into second position.
In the ICC Player Rankings for T20I All-rounders, Angelo Mathews has achieved a career-best fifth position. The list is headed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan.
NZ-Pak series schedule:
15 Jan – 1st T20I, Auckland
17 Jan – 2nd T20I, Hamilton
22 Jan – 3rd T20I, Wellington
ICC T20I TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (as on 11 January, after the conclusion of Afghanistan-Zimbabwe and New Zealand-Sri Lanka series, and before the start of New Zealand-Pakistan series)
RANK TEAM POINTS
1 West Indies 118
2 Australia 118
3 Sri Lanka 118
4 England 117
5 South Africa 115
6 Pakistan 114
7 New Zealand 114
8 India 110
9 Afghanistan 80
10 Bangladesh 69
11 Scotland 66
12 Hong Kong 61
13 Netherlands 61
14 Zimbabwe 50
15 Ireland 42
(Developed by David Kendix)
ICC T20I PLAYER RANKINGS (as on 11 January, after the conclusion of Afghanistan-Zimbabwe and New Zealand-Sri Lanka series, and before the start of New Zealand-Pakistan series)
BATSMEN (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave SR HS Rating
1 ( – ) Aaron Finch Aus 854 39.78 152 892 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
2 ( – ) Virat Kohli Ind 845 44.17 133 897 v Eng at Edgbaston 2014
3 ( – ) Alex Hales Eng 795 34.71 136 866 v Ind at Edgbaston 2014
4 ( – ) Faf du Plessis SA 758 39.28 135 843 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
5= (+2) Chris Gayle WI 703 35.15 143 831 v Aus at Colombo (RPS) 2012
(+5) Martin Guptill NZ 703 33.36 127 793 v SA at Hamilton 2012
7 (-2) B. McCullum NZ 684 35.66 136 849 v Ban at Pallekele 2012
8 (+12) M. Shahzad Afg 681! 30.86 136 681 v Zim at Sharjah 2016
9 (-3) Kusal Perera SL 678* 27.09 133 751 v SA at Chittagong 2014
10 (-2) Eoin Morgan Eng 665 30.59 133 872 v Ind at Old Trafford 2011
Selected rankings (top 50)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave SR HS Rating
11 (+3) Kane Williamson NZ 661! 31.85 129 661 v SL at New Plymouth 2016
13 (-4) T. Dilshan SL 650 28.38 121 802 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009
17 (-1) Ahmed Shehzad Pak 603 25.94 116 709 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
18 (+1) H. Masakadza Zim 601 28.15 116 685 v Ban at Bulawayo 2013
20 (-2) Umar Akmal Pak 592 26.31 123 709 v Zim at Harare 2011
21 (-1) Marlon Samuels WI 582 28.84 122 723 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
25 ( – ) M. Hafeez Pak 530 22.73 115 649 v SL at Dubai 2013
30 (+8) Angelo Mathews SL 513! 27.46 124 513 v NZ at New Plymouth 2016
35 ( – ) Shahid Afridi Pak 492 18.47 148 537 v SA at Abu Dhabi 2010
36 (-5) E. Chigumbura Zim 489 19.48 149 529 v Afg at Bulawayo 2015
41 (+2) Ross Taylor NZ 458 24.14 121 538 v Pak at Hamilton 2010
BOWLERS (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave Eco. HS Rating
1 ( – ) Samuel Badree WI 751 14.96 5.39 855 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
2 (+2) R. Ashwin Ind 681 26.96 7.24 717 v SA at Mirpur 2014
3 (-1) S. Senanayake SL 671* 17.45 6.19 712 v Eng at The Oval 2014
4 (+1) Shahid Afridi Pak 670 23.68 6.56 814 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009
5 (+1) Mitchell Starc Aus 659 19.53 6.72 702 v Pak at Dubai 2014
6 (-3) Lasith Malinga SL 657 21.02 7.27 684 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2015
7 (+1) Imran Tahir SA 641* 15.77 6.45 675 v WI at Johannesburg 2015
8 (+6) Dawlat Zadran Afg 636! 18.83 7.35 636 v Zim at Sharjah 2016
9 ( – ) N. Kulasekara SL 628 23.43 7.25 676 v Aus at Melbourne 2013
10 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 626 20.22 6.49 672 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
Selected rankings (top 50)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave Eco. HS Rating
11 ( – ) M. McClenaghan NZ 619! 26.37 7.87 619 v SL at New Plymouth 2016
14 (+6) Graeme Cremer Zim 608*! 16.34 6.74 608 v Afg at Sharjah 2016
17 (-1) Sohail Tanvir Pak 589 26.97 7.22 600 v Eng at Dubai 2015
20 (+5) Mohammad Nabi Afg 565 28.35 7.08 575 v Zim at Bulawayo 2015
21 (-3) Angelo Mathews SL 564 26.96 6.76 645 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2013
36 (+4) Adam Milne NZ 502*! 29.30 7.35 502 v SL at New Plymouth 2016
38 (+43) Hamza Hotak Afg 495*! 19.85 6.61 495 v Zim at Sharjah 2016
43 (-6) S. Shenwari Afg 478 21.04 6.33 580 v HK at Chittagong 2014
ALL-ROUNDERS (top 5)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Ranking
1 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 362 408 v Pak at Mirpur 2015
2 ( – ) Shahid Afridi Pak 330 413 v NZ at Dubai 2009
3 ( – ) Shane Watson Aus 304 557 v SA at Colombo (RPS) 2012
4 ( – ) M. Hafeez Pak 303 441 v SL at Dubai 2013
5 (+1) Angelo Mathews SL 289! 289 v NZ at New Plymouth 2016
