WI’s Lewis vaults into top five in T20I rankings

DUBAI: West Indies bowlers Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell and Fabian Allen made big gains in the ICC T20I Rankings following their three-match series against Bangladesh.

Windies opener Lewis, who blitzed his way to a match-winning 89 in the series decider, jumped 11 places to No.4 in the latest update to T20I Player Rankings for batsmen on Sunday.

While Lewis’ effort helped Windies post an imposing total, it was Paul’s devastating spell that sealed the deal for Windies, as he inspired a Bangladesh collapse, taking 5-15 in his four overs.

Paul had also done well in the first game with 2-23, and was rewarded with a 42-place jump to No.30 in the bowlers’ chart. His cameos with the bat gave him a 34-place boost on that chart too.

Batsman Shai Hope too was rewarded for his consistent efforts through the three games, including a fifty in the first game, earning a massive 82-place leap to No.82.

The other Windies batsmen making gains were Nicholas Pooran (16 places to No.88) and Rovman Powell (26 places to No.110).

As for the bowlers, Cottrell and Allen made a huge upward movement. Cottrell, who finished the series with seven scalps, jumped 64 places to No.88, and Allen moved up 86 places to No.99.

Skipper Carlos Brathwaite became the top-ranked Windies bowler with an eight-place leap to No.22, finishing one above Samuel Badree, the Windies leg-spinner.

Bangladesh too had reason to smile, skipper Shakib Al Hasan making noteworthy gains in all three tables. He climbed one place to the second spot in the all-rounder’s column, three spots to No.7 in the bowler’s one, and seven spots to No.37 in the batting chart. His overall rankings gain reflected his Player of the Series performance.

Close on Shakib’s trail was teammate Mahmudullah, who rose one spot to No.4 in the all-rounder’s chart. He also rose 17 places in the bowling chart to No.51. The other big positive for Bangladesh was the rise of Liton Das, who climbed 26 places to No.47 after two fantastic knocks.