Speedsters Gabriel, Roach on the rise, Dowrich makes leap

Shannon Gabriel
Shannon Gabriel

Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel has moved into the top 20 of the ICC World bowling rankings, following his strong performance in the drawn second Test against Zimbabwe which ended Thursday.

The right-armer jumped five spots to a career-best 18th to become the only West Indies player in the top 20 and the highest ranked from the region.

Gabriel bowled with impressive pace to snare four wickets on an unresponsive Queens Sports Club pitch, as West Indies were frustrated by Zimbabwe in their attempts to pull off a clean sweep of the two-Test series. He finished the series with five wickets after picking up just one in the first Test which West Indies won by 117 runs at the same venue.

Pacer Shannon Gabriel … now the highest-ranked West Indies bowler.

Gabriel, who climbed to 18th earlier this year, has emerged as the spearhead of the Windies attack of late and now has 76 wickets from 30 Tests. New ball partner, Kemar Roach, also enjoyed movement up the rankings, rising four places to 23rd after claiming five wickets in the match. He ended with eight wickets in the series and has now taken 19 wickets in five matches since his return to the Test arena last August, following a near two-year absence.

Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo slipped one place to 22nd after getting four wickets in the second Test.

The top ten in the bowling rankings, headed by England’s Jimmy Anderson, remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, West Indies wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich jumped 17 places following his 103 in the earlier this week which represented his maiden Test hundred. The innings helped the 26-year-old Barbadian rise to 83rd in the batting rankings.

Captain Jason Holder, with whom Dowrich shared a West Indies record eighth wicket stand of 212 in the second Test, rose five places to 57th following his 110 – his second Test hundred.

Opener Kieran Powell, who struck 90 in the game, is now 63rd after climbing five spots but fellow opener Kraigg Brathwaite, previously the only West Indies batsman in the top 20, fell three places to 21 after scoring just 32 in the Caribbean side’s only innings.

Australian Steve Smith leads an unchanged top 10.

 

Rank                      Team                                                     Points

1                          India                                                        125

2                          South Africa                                             111

3                          England                                                    105

4                          New Zealand                                             97

5                          Australia                                                   97

6                          Sri Lanka                                                  94

7                          Pakistan                                                    88

8                          Windies                                                     75

9                          Bangladesh                                                72

10                          Zimbabwe                                                02 (+2)

 

Batsmen (top 10)

 

Rank  (+/-)      Player           Team     Pts       Avge        Highest Rating

 

1      (-)     Steve Smith        Aus       936      59.66     941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

 

2      (-)     Joe Root             Eng      889      53.76     917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

 

3      (-)     K. Williamson     NZ       880      51.16     893 v Aus at Perth 2015

 

4      (-)     C. Pujara             Ind       876      52.65    888 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

 

5     (-)      David Warner      Aus      807      47.94    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

 

6     (-)      Virat Kohli          Ind       806      49.55    895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

 

7     (-)      Hashim Amla      SA        795      49.87    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

 

8     (-)      Lokesh Rahul      Ind        761*!   46.27    761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

 

9     (-)      Ajinkya Rahane   Ind       760       47.61    825 v NZ at Indore 2016

 

10    (-)      Azhar Ali             Pak      755       46.62    787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

 

 

Bowlers (top 10)

 

Rank    (+/-)      Player            Team     Pts        Avge       Highest Rating

 

1       (-)      J. Anderson          Eng      896!     27.39     896 v Win at Lord’s 2017

 

2       (-)      R. Jadeja              Ind       884      23.60     899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

 

3       (-)       K. Rabada            SA        876!     22.71      876 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2017

 

4       (-)      R. Ashwin            Ind       852      25.26    904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

 

5       (-)      R. Herath             SL        833      27.82    867 v Zim at Harare 2016

 

6       (-)      J. Hazlewood       Aus       794      25.75    863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

 

7       (-)      Nathan Lyon        Aus       752!    31.83     752 v Ban at Chittagong 2017

 

8       (-)      Dale Steyn           SA        748      22.30    909 v Win at Centurion 2014

 

9       (-)      Neil Wagner         NZ        745     28.90    767 v SA at Dunedin 2017

 

10      (-)      Stuart Broad         Eng         737   28.81    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016