Zim players move up in ICC rankings

AFGHANISTAN bowler Dawlat Zadran has vaulted 23 places to a career-high 11th position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I Bowling Rankings which were released following his side’s 2-0 series victory in Zimbabwe which concluded in Bulawayo last week.

The 27-year-old fast-medium bowler captured five wickets for 53 runs in the two games to leave him on 631 points, seven behind Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi.

In 19 matches to date, Zadran has claimed 25 wickets and Afghanistan will look for him to continue his impressive rise ahead of its preparations for ICC WT20 2016 in India alongside his team-mate Mohammad Nabi who remains in 23rd position.

There were also gains for Zimbabwe duo Chris Mpofu (up five to 38th) and Sean Williams (up six to a career-high 50th) following the series.

Wicket-keeper Mohammad Shahzad is the highest-ranked batsman on either side and is unchanged in 22nd place, but a trio of Zimbabwe batsmen have made gains; skipper Elton Chigumbura (up three places to a career-high 26th), Chamu Chibhabha (up six places to 46th) and Williams (up five to a career-high 52nd).

In the all-rounder rankings, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan continues to lead the list on 393 points, however there were career-high gains for Zimbabwe’s Williams (up nine places) and Afghanistan’s Nabi (up eight) who are now tied for 13th place on 200 points.

Following the series, in the ICC T20I Team Rankings, Afghanistan has moved into ninth position on 81 points, eight clear of Bangladesh. Zimbabwe, meanwhile, is in 14th position and now holds just an eight-point advantage of 15th-placed Ireland.

T20 Rankings

Batting

Pts Avge S/R

1 Aaron Finch Aus 854 39.78 152

2 Virat Kohli Ind 845 44.17 133

3 Alex Hales Eng 841 36.40 137

4 F du Plessis SA 758 39.28 135

5 Gayle WI 732 35.15 143

6 B McCullum NZ 712 35.66 136

7 Kusal Perera SL 680* 27.20 134

8 Eoin Morgan Eng 675 29.87 134

9 Martin Guptill NZ 653 32.13 123

10 David Warner Aus 652 28.96 138

22 M Shahzad Afg 592 27.87 131

26 E Chigumbura Zim 529 21.89 151

46 J Chibhabha Zim 453 22.66 109

52 Sean Williams Zim 429 26.21 126

Bowling

Pts Avge Econ

1 Samuel Badree WI 782 14.96 5.39

2 Sunil Narine WI 760 17.52 5.70

3 S Senanayake SL 684 16.66 5.45

4 R Ashwin Ind 681 26.96 7.24

5 Mitchell Starc Aus 659 19.53 6.72

6 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 652 20.22 6.49

7 Lasith Malinga SL 647 21.72 7.38

8 N McCullum NZ 642 22.85 6.90

9 Imran Tahir SA 641 15.77 6.45

10 Shahid Afridi Pak 638 24.30 6.60

11 Dawlat Zadran Afg 631 20.48 7.33

23 M Nabi Afg 575 28.89 7.04

38 Chris Mpofu Zim 493 38.50 8.80

50 Sean Williams Zim 467 26.57 7.15

— ICC