Ish Sodhi makes an entry into the top 5 bowlers in ICC T20I rankings

After scalping three wickets against Sri Lanka in the lone T20I in Auckland, Ish Sodhi, the New Zealand leg-spinner, made a small but significant jump in the rankings, while Lockie Ferguson and Lasith Malinga too made gains. Sodhi finished with impressive figures of 3/30 in New Zealand’s 35-run win over Sri Lanka, allowing him to jump two spots to No.4, equal on points with England leggie Adil Rashid on the  ICC T20I Rankings for bowlers.

His fast-bowling teammate Lockie Ferguson too picked up a three-for in the same game, giving him a sharp 37-place boost up to No.154. Some of Sri Lanka‘s bowlers too made gains, particularly Lasith Malinga and Kasun Rajitha who shook New Zealand with early wickets before the hosts bounced back. Sri Lanka captain Malinga, who claimed two scalps, rose 10 places to 53rd and Rajitha 21 to No.167.

For the visitors, 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 No.31 on the batting table, while he climbed one spot to No.5 in the ICC T20I Rankings for all-rounders after also taking a wicket in the game.

For New Zealand, Colin Munro remains their highest ranked batsman, retaining his second place behind Pakistan’s Babar Azam after making a brisk 16. But the key contributors with the bat for New Zealand were Doug Bracewell and debutant Scott Kuggeleijn.

Bracewell, after making a career-best 44, rose 31 places to No.175, whereas Kuggeleijn made an impressive entry at 197th. With the wicket of Niroshan Dickwella, Bracewell also made a 40-spot leap to No.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 No.23 on the batting chart, maintaining his spot as Sri Lanka’s highest-ranked batsman in the format.

Babar Azam, Rashid Khan and Glenn Maxwell continue to lead the batting, bowling and all-round charts respectively.

ICC T20I team rankings:

ICC T20I batsmen rankings

ICC T20I bowler rankings

ICC T20I all-rounders rankings

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