Phil Salt rises to second spot in ICC T20Is rankings

Dubai, Dec 27 (IANS) England opener Phil Salt rose to second spot on T20I batting rankings, and a career high rating of 802 following the high-scoring T20I series against West Indies in the Caribbean.

Salt's scores of 119 and 38 in Trinidad moved him up 18 places, with a career-high rating of 802, 15 rating points clear of Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan in third (787), ICC reported.

Despite Salt's jump, it’s daylight between the rest of the field and Suryakumar Yadav in top spot, with the India batter still well clear on 887.

Salt's teammate Liam Livingstone also enjoyed a batting rankings jump, moving 27 places to 38th after knocks of unbeaten 54 and 28 across the same matches. Livingstone's work also helped in the all-rounder category, moving four spots up to eighth (175). His move meant compatriot Moeen Ali and Shadab Khan of Pakistan share equal-ninth spot (173).

The West Indies secured a 3-2 victory in the five-match T20I series by winning the final match. Their triumph was primarily attributed to a stellar bowling performance, limiting England to a modest 132 runs. The West Indies then successfully chased down the target in the final over with six wickets in hand.

Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, who took 2/20 from four overs in the victory, moved two spots up to fourth (683), overtaking the Sri Lankan pair of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana (679 and 677 respectively).

Gudakesh Motie jumped 75 spots after claiming 3/24 (4) in the same outing, while Reece Topley on the England side has moved into the top 10 bowlers with a 13-spot jump thanks to five wickets across the two matches across the week.

The ODI series between New Zealand and Bangladesh, along with India's tour to South Africa, has resulted in several minor adjustments.

Shoriful Islam's fine performance with ball in hand saw him climb 24 spots to 35th, while young India left-armer Arshdeep Singh moved up 41 spots, though still outside the top 100.

On the batting side, Najmul Hossain Shanto (up nine spots to equal-49th) made a move, while South Africa's Tony de Zorzi jumped into the top 100 with a move of 39 spots.

Soumya Sarkar's fantastic innings of 169 (151) against the Black Caps helped him climb 52 spots, while Sanju Samson also jumped up 54 spots to a rating of 405.

Sarkar broke Sachin Tendulkar's 13-year record for the highest ODI score by a sub-continent player in New Zealand, beating The Little Master's 163* in Christchurch.

Samson made 108 (114) batting at No.3 in Paarl, as India defended 296 in the third ODI against the Proteas.