New Zealand’s strong performance against Pakistan in the recently concluded five-match T20I series at home has led to major jumps for their players in the latest ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings. However, New Zealand won the fifth and final T20I against Pakistan, but only the standout performances in the third and fourth T20Is have been counted in the rankings.
On Wednesday, March 26, the Black Caps crushed the Men in Green by eight wickets to clinch the home T20I series with a 4-1 margin. Before this thrilling win, the Kiwi stars’ performance in the third and fourth T20I games boosted several cricketers in the updated ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings.
Jacob Duffy soars to 5th in T20I rankings after stellar home series against Pakistan
New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy continued his remarkable rise, climbing seven more spots to reach fifth place in the T20I Bowling Rankings with 694 rating points. Last week, Jacob made a stunning 23-place jump in the rankings.
Duffy had already reached a career-high rating in the ICC T20I Player Rankings after taking six wickets in the first two games and added five more in the next two matches.
From the Pakistan cricket team, Haris Rauf made a significant jump, moving up 11 spots to 15th place with 632 rating points in the latest ICC T20I Player Rankings. The Pakistan pacer’s brilliant performances—3/27 in the third and 3/29 in the fourth T20I match—earned him a well-deserved boost.
New Zealand’s Mark Chapman and Michael Bracewell surge in ICC T20I Rankings
Another Pakistan pacer, Abbas Afridi, also jumped eight places to 36th in the updated rankings. Meanwhile, there is no change in the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings for the batters, with Australia’s Travis Head retaining the No. 1 spot, followed by India’s Abhishek Sharma and England’s Phil Salt.
However, New Zealand star Mark Chapman made a big impact, jumping 10 places to 41st (547 rating points) in the latest rankings. Chapman’s explosive 94 off 44 balls, along with a quick 24 in the last two T20I matches, helped him make a significant move in the batters’ rankings.
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In the all-rounder rankings, New Zealand’s stand-in captain for the Pakistan T20Is and star all-rounder Michael Bracewell climbed 12 spots to 14th place with 141 rating points. His contributions with the bat—46* off 26 balls and 31 off 18 balls—helped the New Zealand team to take the upper hand in the home series.
Namibia stars make a huge rise in the ICC T20I Rankings
Meanwhile, the latest ICC T20I Rankings saw some changes after the recent series between Namibia and Canada, which took place at the new FNB Cricket Ground in Windhoek.
Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus maintained his place in the top 10 of the all-rounder rankings with 164 rating points. On the other hand, another Namibian, Niko Davin, made a big jump in the batting rankings, moving up 27 places to 68th with 450 rating points in the updated rankings.
Davin’s rise came after scoring an unbeaten fifty in the final match, helping Namibia secure a 3-0 series win over Canada. Notably, more Kiwi stars would make a rise in the rankings for their match-winning performances in the final T20I against Pakistan when the ICC makes updates.
