West Indies offspinner Sunil Narine consolidated his number one position in the ICC T20 Bowling Rankings following a strong performance in the two match series against Pakistan over the weekend.
Narine gained 39 points after picking up four wickets (Ave: 12.5, Econ: 6.25), creating further distance between himself (817) and number two, Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan (745). Only Umar Gul (857) and Daniel Vettori (850) have achieved higher point tallies in the format.
The top five is filled out by fellow spinners Ajantha Mendis of Sri Lanka (716), Pakistani Mohammed Hafeez (684) and Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan (668). The regional team's next best rated bowler is Samuel Badree, who went up five places to 25th for his three scalps at 14.33 (Econ: 6.14). Darren Sammy remained in 28th, Dwayne Bravo fell four spots to 47th, Marlon Samuels skipped nine places to 60th and Kieron Pollard earned three spots to go to 74th.
Pollard was the biggest climber among the batsmen, moving from 38th to personal best 23rd on the strength of his 49 not out (36) and 23 (10) while Bravo (25 & 35) was also on the ascent, going up one place to 21st. Chris Gayle (5 & 1) dropped three spots to ninth, Marlon Samuels (25 & 1) lost one place to go to 11th, Johnson Charles (1 & 0) plummeted from 27th to 37th, and Lendl Simmons (6 & 3) fell three places to 39th.
New Zealand wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum tops the list on 818 points, followed by England's Alex Hales (777), Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardende (753) and the Australian pair of Shane Watson (752) and David Warner (745).
West Indies boast three allrounders in the top 10, more than any other team, with Samuels in sixth, Gayle in eighth and Bravo ninth. Watson (471) is at number one with Hafeez (432), Al Hasan (350), Yuvraj Singh (337) and Shahid Afridi (300) rounding out the top five. (NC)
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T20 Batting Rankings
1. Brendon McCullum (NZ) - 818
2. Alex Hales (ENG) - 777
3. Mahela Jayawardene (SL) - 753
4. Shane Watson (AUS) - 752
5. David Warner(AUS) - 745
9. Chris Gayle (WI) - 702
11. Marlon Samuels (WI) - 667
21. Dwayne Bravo (WI) - 552
23. Kieron Pollard (WI) - 537
T20 Bowling Rankings
1. Sunil Narine (WI) - 817
2. Saeed Ajmal (PAK) - 745
3. Ajantha Mendis (SL) - 716
4. Mohammad Hafeez (PAK) - 684
5. Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) - 668
25. Samuel Badree (WI) - 588
28. Darren Sammy (WI) - 573