Saturday, 14 June 2014 00:00
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ESPNCricinfo: Tim Southee has achieved a career-best position of fifth in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers after taking six wickets in New Zealand’s win over West Indies in Kingston. He has also moved up a spot to claim seventh position in the rankings for Test allrounders.
Southee, who had figures of 4 for 19 in the first innings, has jumped three places in the bowlers rankings, and is behind only Dale Steyn, Ryan Harris, Vernon Philander and Mitchell Johnson. The top five spots are all taken by fast bowlers, while the next three places are shared by spinners in Saeed Ajmal, Rangana Herath and R. Ashwin.
Southee has become New Zealand’s highest-ranked bowler. His closest rival is fellow fast bowler Trent Boult, who has dropped two places to ninth position after claiming one wicket in the Kingston Test.
Mark Craig comes in at 53rd position, making him the third-highest ranked New Zealand bowler. The offspinner made an impressive start in Kingston when he claimed 4 for 91 and 4 for 97, the best bowling performance by a New Zealand player on Test debut.
For West Indies, Shivnarine Chanderpaul has leapfrogged Kumar Sangakkara into second position in the rankings for Test batsmen. Chanderpaul scored an unbeaten 84 and 24 in Kingston, and he now trails top-ranked AB de Villiers by 41 ratings points.
