Williamson, Masakadza, Cremer and McClenaghan break into the top 10 for the first time in their careers

New Zealand came back from behind against Pakistan to win the series 2-1, while Zimbabwe recovered from 0-2 down against Bangladesh to draw the series at two-all.

These series results are clearly reflected in the latest MRF Tyres ICC T20I Player Rankings, which will surely serve as a confidence-booster to the two sides which have no more T20I cricket scheduled before the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 starts on Mar 8.

New Zealand captain Kane Williams has moved up five places to a career-best sixth after he top-scored with 175 runs in the series, while left-am fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan has broken into the top 10 in eighth position after rising three places.

However, the biggest Kiwi mover is fast bowler Adam Milne. The right-arm fast bowler was the leading wicket-taker in the series with eight wickets, for which he has been rewarded with a jump of 26 places that has put him just outside the top 10 in 13th spot.

For Pakistan, the only positive news is the movement of middle-order batsman Umar Akmal (18th after rising three places) and captain Shahid Afridi, who has returned to the top three in third position in the bowlers’ chart after gaining one place.

Zimbabwe’s charge in the player rankings is led by Hamilton Masakadza and Graeme Cremer.

Hamilton aggregated 222 runs in four matches, including a series-leveling 93 not out in the final match of the series, which has helped him vault 11 places to eighth in the batting table. Malcolm Waller, who scored 128 runs in the series, has rocketed 39 places to join Hashim Amla of South Africa in 39th position.

Cremer’s six wickets in the series has meant he has stormed up nine places to a career-high fifth position. The wrist-spinner has gained 61 points and is now just two points behind the third-ranked Pakistan captain.

Tendai Chisoro took four wickets with his fast bowling, which has given him a lift of 84 places that has put him just inside the top 50 in 46th position.

For Bangladesh, the good news is that Mustafizur Rahman has continued to make upward movement. The fast bowler has climbed 78 places and is now in 37th spot after taking four wickets in the series. Al-Amin Hossain has jumped 15 places to 35th, while captain Mashrafe Mortaza is 33rd after rising two places.

Sabbir Hussain was his side’s leading run-getter with 140 runs for which he has earned 59 places, which has put him in a career-best 79th position.

Meanwhile, in the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Team Championship table, New Zealand has leapfrogged South Africa and Pakistan into fifth position. The series win has given New Zealand two points, while Pakistan has dropped one point.

In contrast, Bangladesh has dropped behind Scotland to 11th position after the drawn series meant it conceded five points. Zimbabwe has retained its 14th position but it has collected four points.

Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are in different first-round groups of the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016. The two sides, along with six qualifiers, will lock horns fromMar 8 in Nagpur and Dharamsala with the table-toppers progressing to the second round, which will start in Nagpur on Mar 15.

With only eight points separating number-one ranked West Indies from eighth-ranked India, the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 is shaping up to be a wide open event with any of the top-ranked sides capable of lifting the trophy in Kolkata onApr 3.

In the lead-up to the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016, Australia and India will play three T20Is on Jan 26, 29 and 31, the UAE will host the Netherlands for a T20I onFeb 3, South Africa will face England in two T20Is on  Feb 19 and 21, the Asia Cup T20 tournament will be held from Feb 24 to Mar 6, while South Africa will host Australia for three T20Is on Mar 4, 6 and 9.

When Australia hosts India next week in Adelaide, it will need to win the series to claim the number-one position. In case of a 2-1 win, Australia will move to 120 points and India will remain eighth, while a 3-0 win will put Australia on 124 points and India on 103 points.

However, if India sweeps the three-match series, then the two sides will swap places. In this scenario, India will vault to number-one with 120 points while Australia will plummet to number-eight with 110 points. If India wins 2-1, then Australia will slip to sixth and India will move to seventh.

RANK TEAM             POINTS

1          West Indies      118

2          Australia           118

3          Sri Lanka          118

4          England            117

5          New Zealand    116

6          South Africa     115

7          Pakistan            113

8          India                 110

9          Afghanistan      80

10        Scotland           66

11        Bangladesh       64

12        Hong Kong       61

13        Netherlands      61

14        Zimbabwe        54

15        Ireland              42


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         ( - )        Martin Guptill     NZ         741        34.70    130        793 v SA at Hamilton 2012

   6         (+5)       Kane Williamson NZ         733        36.69    128        737 v Pak at Hamilton 2016

   7         (-2)        Chris Gayle         WI         703        35.15    143        831 v Aus at Colombo (RPS) 2012

   8         (+11)     H. Masakadza      Zim        699!      31.42    120        699 v Ban at Khulna 2016

   9         (-1)        M. Shahzad          Afg        681!      30.86    136        681 v Zim at Sharjah 2016

  10        (-1)        Kusal Perera        SL          678*     27.09    133        751 v SA at Chittagong 2014

 

Selected rankings (top 50)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Ave        SR         HS Rating

  18        (+3)       Umar Akmal        Pak        606        26.89    124        709 v Zim at Harare 2011

  22        (-4)        Ahmed Shehzad  Pak        579        24.76    116        709 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

  23        ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        561        24.24    125        618 v Pak at Mirpur 2015

 24        (+39)     Malcolm Waller  Zim        545*!    29.18    154        545 v Ban at Khulna 2016

  26        ( - )        M. Hafeez            Pak        540        22.93    115        649 v SL at Dubai 2013

  37        (-1)        Shahid Afridi       Pak        491        18.23    149        537 v SA at Abu Dhabi 2010

  39        (-1)        Tamim Iqbal        Ban        477        20.46    108        550 v SL at Chittagong 2014

  44        (-7)        E. Chigumbura    Zim        455        19.14    147        529 v Afg at Bulawayo 2015

 

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         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         681        26.96    7.24      717 v SA at Mirpur 2014

   3         (+1)       Shahid Afridi       Pak        672        23.90    6.60      814 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009

   4         (-1)        S. Senanayake     SL          671*     17.45    6.19      712 v Eng at The Oval 2014

   5         (+9)       Graeme Cremer   Zim        669!      16.59    6.72      669 v Ban at Khulna 2016

   6         (-1)        Mitchell Starc     Aus        659        19.53    6.72      702 v Pak at Dubai 2014

   7         (-1)        Lasith Malinga    SL          657        21.02    7.27      684 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2015

   8         (+3)       M. McClenaghan NZ         643!      25.80    7.68      643 v Pak at Wellington 2016

   9         (-2)        Imran Tahir         SA         641*     15.77    6.45      675 v WI at Johannesburg 2015

  10        (-2)        Dawlat Zadran     Afg        636!      18.83    7.35      636 v Zim at Sharjah 2016

 

Selected rankings (top 50)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Ave        Eco.       HS Rating

  12        (-2)        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        622        20.96    6.71      672 v Pak at Mirpur 2014

  13        (+26)     Adam Milne        NZ         613*!    20.83    7.35      613 v Pak at Wellington 2016

  23        (-6)        Sohail Tanvir       Pak        554        26.97    7.22      600 v Eng at Dubai 2015

  33        (+2)       M. Mortaza          Ban        522        37.73    8.17      527 v Zim at Khulna 2016

  35        (+15)     Al-Amin Hossain Ban        520*     15.15    6.80      541 v Zim at Khulna 2016

  37        (+70)     M. Rahman          Ban        511*     14.90    5.45      532 v Zim at Khulna 2016

  46        (+84)     Tendai Chisoro    Zim        492*!    17.30    6.17      492 v Ban at Khulna 2016

  47        (+4)       Sean Williams     Zim        488*     31.40    7.24      500 v Ban at Khulna 2016

 

ALL-ROUNDERS (top 5)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                                Team     Points    Highest Ranking

   1         ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        349       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         ( - )        Angelo Mathews SL          289!      289 v NZ at New Plymouth 2016