Hetmyer up 28 spots despite Windies horror series

West Indies young batting star Shimron Hetmyer.
West Indies young batting star Shimron Hetmyer.

LONDON,  CMC – Left-hander Shimron Hetmyer has vaulted 28 places in the latest International Cricket Council Test batting rankings, following his fireworks in the just concluded two-Test series against Bangladesh.

The 21-year-old, the only West Indies batsman to emerge from the humiliating 2-0 series whitewash with his reputation intact, is now 52nd in the charts topped by India captain Virat Kohli.

 Hetmyer struck 39 and 93 in the second Test debacle in Dhaka, as West Indies slid to a heavy innings and 184-run defeat inside three days on Sunday – their largest margin of defeat to the hosts ever.

Overall, Hetmyer scored 222 and at an average of 55 to top the Windies aggregates. He was also a stand-out in the first Test in Chittagong despite the Windies’ 64-run loss, hitting 63 and 27.

A feature of the Guyanese’s batting was his attacking stroke-play. His second innings 93 came from 92 balls and included nine sixes – the joint most in a Test innings by a West Indies player.

There was no such enterprise from stand-in captain Kraigg Brathwaite whose continued poor form has seen him tumble out of the top 20 to 33rd.

Brathwaite scored 22 runs from four innings in the series, including 0 and 1 in Dhaka. However, he remains the Caribbean side’s highest ranked batsman.

Shai Hope, who scored 39 runs in the series and Roston Chase, who got 34, are now 53rd and 46th in the batting rankings respectively.

Wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich, who made a half-century in the opening Test, was the only other West Indies batsman to pass 100 runs in the series with 108 runs at an average of 36.

The effort was good enough to stop him from losing ground in the rankings as he fell to 60th.

In the bowling rankings, regular West Indies skipper, Jason Holder, who missed the series through injury, dropped one place to 10th while new-ball partner Shannon Gabriel, who missed the second Test through suspension, also lost one spot to be 12th.

They are the only two West Indies bowlers in the top 20.

South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada remains top of the bowling charts.