Dubai: New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi entered into the top five among the bowlers in the updated ICC T20I player rankings, released on Saturday.
After finishing with impressive figures of 3/30 in Black Caps’ 35-run win over Sri Lanka, the 26-year-old jumped two spots to attain the number four position, equalling with English leggie Adil Rashid.
Sodhi’s fast-bowling teammate Lockie Ferguson too picked up a three-for in the game, giving him a sharp 37-place boost up to number 154 in the Rashid Khan-led chart.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers Lasith Malinga and Kasun Rajitha, who shook New Zealand with early wickets before the Black Caps bounced back. Malinga, who claimed two scalps, raised 10 places to attain 53rd and Rajitha 21 positions to settle at number 167.
Thisara Perera, who has been in red-hot form with the bat, also made notable gains in both the batting and all-rounder tables. His valiant 43 earned him an eight place boost to achieve number 31 on the batting table, while he climbed one spot to attain number five in the Glenn Maxwell-led ICC T20I rankings for all-rounders.
New Zealand’s Colin Munro remains the highest ranked batsman for his side, retaining his second place behind Pakistan’s Babar Azam after making a brisk 16.
But the key contributors with the bat for Black Caps were Doug Bracewell and debutant Scott Kuggeleijn. After making a career-best 44, Bracewell raised 31 places to gain number 175, whereas Kuggeleijn made an impressive entry at the 197th spot.
With the wicket of Niroshan Dickwella, Bracewell also made a 40-spot leap to number 89 in the bowling charts and Kuggeleijn made a start at 227 after scalping Kusal Perera, who scored 23 to make a one-place gain to number 23 on the batting chart, maintaining his spot as Sri Lanka’s highest-ranked batsman in the format.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]