Pakistan overtake New Zealand as the No.1 T20I side

New Zealand began the match as the No.1 T20I side in the world, with 124 points against Team India placed at No.5 with 118 points. The hosts began their batting innings on a high with both the openers hitting some tremendous shots over all parts of the park at Feroz Shah Kotla in Ashish Nehra’s final game.

Arguably one of the best swing bowlers at the moment, Trent Boult was smoked to all corners in the powerplay with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma hitting the length ball over the park and slogging it to the boundary at will. New Zealand had a record to protect, as the Indians had never beaten them in the shortest format of the game.

However, carrying momentum from the ODI series the Men in Blue began the proceedings in a dominant manner and continued it until the end of the innings as skipper Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni smoked the ball regularly towards the 2nd tier in Delhi. The Black Caps in their chase failed to get off to a good start with the asking rate around ten runs an over.

Hardik Pandya’s brilliance on the ground ensured that the opener Martin Guptill was dismissed before he could free his arm against the Indian bowling. Further, New Zealand’s second wicket fell in the powerplays, and the asking rate just increased by the end of another over. Indian bowlers continued to pick wickets at regular interval to raise the required rate over the roof and the pressure kept mounting. In the end, the total was too much of an asking for the visitors, who succumbed to a third consecutive defeat against India.

Pakistan at the top of the T20I rankings:

With the defeat against India, not only did New Zealand’s streak against India end but also lost the top spot to Pakistan who have 124 points. The Pakistanis, have been consistently performing well winning the World XI series 3-0 and the series against Sri Lanka at home by the same margin.

New Zealand slides down to No.2, with 121 points followed by West Indies who are at 120 points. England, with 119 points are at No.4 with Team India at No.5. The major surprise in the T20I rankings is Australia and South Africa, who find themselves at No.6 and No.7.

T20I rankings table