Holder breaks into top 20 in best move

Captain Jason Holder has broken into the top 20 of the One-Day International rankings for the first time in his career, following strong performances during the just concluded Tri-Nations Series.

The 24-year-old fast bowler picked up seven wickets in as many games in the tournament, as West Indies reached the final before going down by 58 runs to World champions Australia on Sunday in Barbados.

On the back of that performance, Holder has jumped four places to 20th and is just one of two West Indies bowlers inside the top 20, with champion off-spinner Sunil Narine the other.

The right-armer, the top-ranked bowler, grabbed 11 wickets during the tournament in what was his first ODI series since he was banned from bowling last November because of an illegal action.

Rookie South African seamer Kagiso Rabada also moved up the rankings, jumping six places to be joint seventh with fellow countryman Dale Steyn.

The 21-year-old Rabada was outstanding throughout, taking seven wickets from six games at an average of 27.

Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, meanwhile, leapt eight spots to 15th after picking up 11 wickets – the most for his side in the series.

In the batting rankings, right-handed stroke-maker Marlon Samuels move up two places to 27th after compiling 258 runs at an average of 36.85. He struck a brilliant 125 against Australia in Bridgetown last Tuesday, to follow up his 92 against the same team in St Kitts a week earlier.

He is the highest ranked West Indies batsman.

Stylish left-hander Darren Bravo has jumped 10 places to 40th after gathering 222 runs with a century against South Africa last Friday and Kieron Pollard has risen six places to 54th, following two half-centuries in scoring 205 runs at an average of 41.

There has been no change to the top three with South Africans AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla at number one and two respectively, and Indian Virat Kohli lying third.

(Taken from windiescricket.com)

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.