New Zealand Climbs Number 5th Position In ICC Test Rankings
Jan 6, 2019 at 3:51 AM
By gaining two points, New Zealand rose to the fifth position in the ICC’s MRF Tyres Test Rankings after winning the two-match Test series against Bangladesh to see Pakistan sliding to the sixth position with 97 points.
New Zealand claimed the 9-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second Test in Christchurch to clinch 98 points after settling for 96 points before the start of the series.
“It definitely wasn’t easy. Credit to Bangladesh throughout the series – whether it was T20, one day or test cricket they put us under pressure,” Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson was quoted as saying by Reuters.
During the second Test Kiwis’ fast bowlers Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner set the tune while bagging three wickets each in the rain-interrupted second innings.
New Zealand required 108 to win the second Test which they achieved in 18.4 overs after losing Jeet Raval on 33 off 40 balls while having the lead of 65 as inexperienced Bangladesh line-up were bundled out at 173.
Southee picked eight wickets which included a five-wicket haul in the first innings when Bangladesh were all out on 289.
Southee also becomes fifth New Zealander to reach the feat of 200 Test wickets in his 56th Test.
However, Ross Taylor became third Kiwi’s to amass 6000 runs in the same Test after former skipper Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum.
“I think this test match in some ways was similar to the first in that they were pretty even after their first innings and it came down to a second innings battle,” Williamson added.
In the first Test at Wellington, hosts claimed a seven-wicket win after the visitors showed some valiant efforts with the bat in the first innings before collapsing in the second innings.
India is topping the ICC Test table with 120 points in 35 games that has been followed by Australia (109), South Africa (107) and England on (101).
Misbah-Ul-Haq led side after topping the tables last year, descended to sixth place after receiving the drubbing from New Zealand 2-0 and Australia 3-0.
After starting the series with 65 points, Bangladesh slipped to 62 during the recently concluded Test series.
Earlier, the visitors lost all three ODIs and the same number of T20Is before the start of the two-match Tests.