ICC Rankings: Jasprit Bumrah at top but Australia stars close gap after starring against New Zealand

Australia bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon have made significant gains in the latest ICC Rankings for Test bowlers, released by the governing body on Wednesday (March 6).

Both the bowlers played a key role in Australia’s thumping 172-run win over New Zealand in the first Test in Wellington. Australia thoroughly dominated the series opener to take an unassailable lead in the two-match series. Asked to bat first, Australia scored 383 runs with Cameron Green playing an unbeaten knock of 174 runs. For New Zealand, Matt Henry picked up five wickets.

In reply, the hosts were bowled out for 179 runs. Lyon picked up four wickets while Hazlewood claimed two wickets. In the second innings, Australia could score only 164 runs to set New Zealand a target of 369 runs. In reply, New Zealand failed to do well with the bat once again and were bowled out for 196 runs. Lyon starred with the ball in the second innings as well, taking 6 wickets for 65 while Hazlewood took two wickets again.

ICC Rankings:

Thanks to the impressive display with the ball, both Hazlewood and Lyon have moved up in the ICC rankings. Hazlewood has moved up one place to fourth while Lyon has jumped up two spots to sixth. Australia now have four players inside the top 12 of the current ICC rankings for Test bowlers, with skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc placed at fifth and 12th spot respectively.

India’s Jasprit Bumrah is currently at the top of the ICC Rankings with 867 rating points and is followed by teammate Ravichandran Ashwin and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada. Bumrah was rested for the fourth Test against England and will be looking to strengthen his spot when he takes the field in the fifth Test, scheduled to begin on Thursday (March 7).

New Zealand’s Henry and Glenn Phillips have also moved up after taking five-wicket hauls in the Wellington Test. While Henry has moved up seven places to 18th, Phillips has moved up 19 spots to 48th.

It’s a similar story on the latest rankings for Test batters, with Australia star Cameron Green continuing his emergence as one of the best all-rounders in the world as he reached a new career-high rating following his Player of the Match heroics against New Zealand.

In the ICC Rankings for Test batters, Cameron Green has jumped 22 places to reach 23rd after playing knocks of 174* and 34 against the Black Caps. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is currently leading the list despite registering scores of 0 and 9 against Australia. Virat Kohli at eighth is the highest-ranked Indian batter.