West Indies rise to No 1 in T20 rankings

AUCKLAND – West Indies have claimed the No. 1 spot in the ICC T20 positions after Sri Lanka, who’d mostly taken the top rung since they won the World T20 in 2014, were caned by New Zealand in Auckland on Sunday. West Indies have 118.36 rating points, and are now marginally ahead of both Sri Lanka and Australia who’ve exactly 118 rating points each.

West Indies have played with eight matches since the end of the World T20 including a world record chase against South Africa in January 2015 and won four of them, in April 2014. They gunned down 232 in 19.2 overs. Coincident to that has been the fall of Sri Lanka – they’ve lost five of their last six matches, the latest a nine-wicket drubbing as New Zealand raced to their goal of 143 in a mere 10 overs.

Sri Lanka had started the two-match series with a seven-point lead. West Indies fare much worse in the other formats. They are at No. 8 in Tests, after losing the Frank Worrell Trophy 2-0, and No. 9 in ODIs.

The top ten teams in T20Is

Rank Team Points
1 West Indies 118
2 Sri Lanka 118
3 Australia 118
4 England 117
5 South Africa 115
6 New Zealand 114
7 Pakistan 114
8 India 110
9 Afghanistan 80
10 Bangladesh 69