New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has broken into the top five of the ICC Player Rankings for T20I Batsmen after completing a second successive limited overs series win against Bangladesh 3-0.
Williamson scored 73 not out, 12 and 60 to finish with a series aggregate of 145 runs. For this consistency, he has been rewarded with a jump of two places which has put him in fourth position.
Williamson already occupies positions in the top-five of Tests and ODIs. He sits in fourth place in Test rankings, while he is ranked fifth in ODI rankings. This speaks volumes of Williamson’s talent in all formats and his amazing ability to adapt and adjust to any brand of cricket.
India’s Virat Kohli is the only other batsmen in the world who presently features in the top five of all three formats. He is the number-one ranked batsman in T20Is, second-ranked in ODIs and ranked number-two in Tests.
Interestingly, both Kohli and Williamson captained their respective sides in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2008 in Malaysia. India won the tournament when it defeated South Africa by 12 runs (DLS method).
Apart from Williamson, Colin Munro has also made an impact on the latest T20I rankings. The left-hander smashed a 54-ball 101 in the second match, which has helped him jump 20 places to 19th.
In the T20I bowling table, the biggest mover is Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman who won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award. The left-armer has leaped 10 places to 10th in the latest rankings. In doing so, he has also become Bangladesh’s highest-ranked bowler, leapfrogging Shakib Al Hasan who is 11th after rising three places.
Reacting to the news, Mustafizur said: “Rankings are an important indicator of consistency in performance and I am very happy and inspired to see myself in the top ten for the first time.”
New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi have also achieved career-high rankings. Santner has gained 26 places and is now ranked 18th, while Sodhi has rocketed 19 places to claimed 19th spot. With Adam Milne now in 17th place, New Zealand has three bowlers inside the top 20.
South Africa’s Imran Tahir is the number-one ranked T20I bowler. He is followed by Jasprit Bumrah of India and West Indies’ Samuel Badree.
Meanwhile, New Zealand has retained its status as the number-one ranked T20I side. For its 3-0 success, it has earned one point which has lifted it to 129 points. Bangladesh has also lost one point and has slipped to 72 points.
Supporters can see the top white-ball players from Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa and England this summer in Cardiff. The Welsh capital will also host Sri Lanka and Pakistan as well as the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final in a feast of international cricket this June. Tickets for the ICC event are available here www.icc-cricket.com/tickets, whilst supporters can CLICK HERE to secure their seats for the third and final International T20 between England and South Africa