Charles, Joseph rocket up T20I ranking after South Africa series
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CMC):
TWO-TIME TWENTY20 World Cup winner Johnson Charles and speedster Alzarri Joseph were among the big movers in the ICC Twenty20 International Rankings released yesterday.
The duo played important roles in a 2-1 series win for West Indies against hosts South Africa over the past week.
Charles, the Player-of-the-Series, leapt an incredible 92 places to 17th in the batting rankings due mainly to his pugnacious 118 off 46 balls in the second T20I of the series at Centurion Park in Pretoria before the South Africans successfully chased a record target of 259 to win the match.
He is one of three West Indies batsmen in the top 20 of the rankings – Brandon King is currently 19th after achieving a career-best ranking in the first match of the series, and Nicholas Pooran, whose crucial 41 earned a win in the third T20I, is now ranked 20th.
Joseph improved 18 places to 33rd in the bowling rankings after he snared a career-best five for 40 in the third T20I at the Wanderers in the South Africa capital of Johannesburg on Tuesday to formalise a series win for the Caribbean side.
No West Indies bowler has cracked the top 20 in the format, but left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein is the highest ranked at 21st after falling five places during the series.