Mathews achieve career-best rankings in T20I cricket

Sri Lanka Test and ODI skipper Angelo Mathews has achieved career-best 5th position in the ICC T20I all-rounder’s list at the completion of the New Zealand vs Sri Lanka two-match T20I series on Sunday. 

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.

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.

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.

 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)

(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)

Selected rankings (top 50)

BOWLERS (top 10)

Selected rankings (top 50)

ALL-ROUNDERS (top 5)