ZIMBABWE’S cricket players have made significant gains in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings following the dominant performances in the group stage of the Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
In-form all-rounders Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza were the biggest shakers among the local players while paceman Richard Ngarava soared 27 places in the bowling rankings to land at number 32.
Raza was among the biggest movers near the top-end of the men’s ODI batting rankings after rising seven places to 27th following three powerful innings in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier. He is Zimbabwe’s highest ranked batsman.
The 37-year-old opened the campaign with an unbeaten 102 runs against Netherlands, which became a new record for the fastest century by a Zimbabwean player.
He faced only 54 deliveries to achieve the feat, as Zimbabwe floored the Dutch by six wickets after chasing down a hefty 316-run target, with some 55 balls to spare.
Raza’s innings included six boundaries and eight maximums. He then backed it up with 68 from the famous win over West Indies and a quick-fire 48 against the USA on Monday as Zimbabwe completed the group stage unscathed.
The right hander has the sixth-most runs in the tournament despite only batting three times in four matches. Raza has also had much impact with his off-spin to claim his place among the top six wicket-takers at the Cricket World Cup Qualifier, with eight scalps.
The dazzling form with both bat and ball has Raza climbing two spots to third in the ODI All-Rounder Rankings, only behind Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh in top spot and Mohammad Nabi from Afghanistan.
Williams has also made a huge statement after climbing 10 spots to 43rd position in the Batting Rankings. The 36-year-old has scored two centuries during the Qualifier and is the tournament’s current top run-scorer.
His unbeaten 102 against Nepal in the opener had set a new record as the fastest century for Zimbabwe before Raza rewrote the records two days later.
Williams missed another ton by just nine runs in the second match against Netherlands before scoring 23 against West Indies. He then smashed his second ton of the tournament, and seventh of his ODI career, with a career best 174 in the massive win against the USA last Monday.
Pacer Ngarava made the biggest jump on the Bowling Rankings when he gained 27 places to 32nd place and is now Zimbabwe’s best-placed player in the ICC Bowling Rankings, ahead of Blessing Muzarabani.
Ngarava has the equal second-most wickets at the tournament so far with 10 scalps to his name.
There were also big gains for a number of players participating in the Qualifier, with West Indies Nicholas Pooran jumping 13 places into the top 20 of the ODI Batting Rankings following his pair of centuries.
The Windies batter was the second-highest scorer during the group stage of the Cricket World Cup Qualifier with 296 runs, including 115 against Nepal and 104* before the Super Over defeat to the Netherlands, and now climbs to equal 19th in the latest ODI batting rankings.
Scott Edwards’ three fifties from three innings at the Cricket World Cup Qualifier pushed the Netherlands skipper 24 places higher to 40th in the ODI batting rankings.
Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga rose two spots to 24th in the ODI Bowling Rankings after equaling Pakistan great Waqar Younis’ record for the most consecutive five-wicket hauls in ODIs with three bags in the opening three matches.
The Sri Lanka spinner was also the leading wicket-taker in the group stage of the Cricket World Cup Qualifier with 18 scalps from four matches. –
