Williamson joins Kohli in ICC top-5 of all three formats

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has become the second batsman after Indian skipper Virat Kohli to feature in the top-five of the ICC rankings for all three formats by climbing to fourth in the latest Twenty20 list issued in Dubai on Monday. Williamson has broken into the top five after a good series against Bangladesh which his side won 3-0. Williamson scored 73 not out, 12 and 60 to finish with a series aggregate of 145 runs. For this consistency, he has been rewarded with a jump of two places which has put him in fourth position. Williamson already occupies positions in the top-five of Tests and ODIs. He sits in fourth place in the Test rankings, while he is ranked fifth in ODI rankings. Kohli is the only other batsman in the world who presently features in the top five of all three formats. He is the number-one ranked batsman in T20Is, second-ranked in ODIs and ranked number-two in Tests. Interestingly, both Kohli and Williamson captained their respective sides in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2008 in Malaysia. India won the tournament when they defeated South Africa by 12 runs (DLS method). Apart from Williamson, Colin Munro has also made an impact on the latest T20I rankings. The left-hander smashed a 54-ball 101 in the second match, which has helped him jump 20 places to 19th. In the T20I bowling table, the biggest mover is Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman who won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award. The left-armer has leaped 10 places to 10th in the latest rankings. In doing so, he has also become Bangladesh’s highest-ranked bowler, leapfrogging Shakib Al Hasan who is 11th after rising three places. Meanwhile, New Zealand have retained their status as the number-one ranked T20I side. For their 3-0 success, they have earned one point which has lifted them to 129 points. India are currently placed second in the list.

Bangladesh have lost one point and have slipped to 72 points.