Ross Taylor breaks into the top 10 in the ICC Test rankings

New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor conquered Hamilton with a magnificent ton in the second innings which contributed immensely to New Zealand’s win. With the win, the Black Caps sealed the series in their favour by a 2-0 margin over visitors West Indies. Taylor bagged the Man of the Match trophy and Hamilton, and now to pile upon the happiness, he has moved up in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings.

The batsman broke into the top 10 batsmen rankings in Test format after his scores of 16 and 107* in NZ’s 240 run victory. The batsman now occupies the 10th spot in the chart in the list which is aced by Australian skipper Steve Smith. Taylor has 739 points to his name which is 132 more than his tally of 871 points which he recorded in December 2013.

The last time the fidgety batsman was in the top 10 was in 2016, in August. The century in the second Test against the West Indies marked the 33-year old’s 17th Test ton, and it came when the needed the most. New Zealand opener Jeet Raval and lower order batsman Colin de Grandhomme has also made significant leaps in the rankings. Raval’s scores of 84 and 4 helped him occupy the 30th position in the rankings from the 34th. Colin de Grandhomme’s 58 and 22 saw him move to 70 which is his career best.

Also read: (New Zealand vs Windies: Match Report 2nd Test)

Mitchell Santner (up one place to a career-best 51st) has moved up among bowlers for New Zealand, while pace bowlers Shannon Gabriel (up two places to 21st) and Miguel Cummins (up 14 places to 63rd) jumped places for the West Indies.

As far as the West Indies batsmen are concerned, there were some notable positives. Roston Chase has gained seven slots to reach 38th position while Shane Dowrich has gained six places to reach 83rd position. However, in the team rankings, there has been no changes with New Zealand and the West Indies remaining at 4th and 8th respectively.