DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC- West Indies offspinner Sunil Narine has strengthened his number one position in the ICC T20 Bowling Rankings following a decent showing in the two match series against Pakistan over the weekend. Narine widened the gap between himself and number two ranked Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan after gaining 39 points for picking up four wickets. Narine remains at the top on 817 ratings points while Ajmal has 745.
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 Caribbean’s next best rated bowler is Samuel Badree, who went up five places to 25th for his three scalps while 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 while Bravo was also on the ascent, going up one place to 21st.
Chris Gayle dropped three spots to ninth, Marlon Samuels lost one place to go to 11th, Johnson Charles plummeted from 27th to 37th, and Lendl Simmons fell three places to 39th.
New Zealand wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum tops the list on 818 points, followed by England’s Alex Hales (777).
West Indies boast three allrounders in the top 10, more than any other team, with Samuels in sixth, Gayle in eighth and Bravo ninth.
