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England’s Dawid Malan has accomplished the highest-ever rating points for batsmen in the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings following a tremendous performance against South Africa in the recently concluded T20I series.
Malan finished the three-match leg as the leading run-scorer (173 runs). The left-handed batsman has now reached 915 points to become the first-ever player to cross the 900-point mark after Australian skipper Aaron Finch who achieved 900 points in July 2018.
Malan is ahead with 44 points over Pakistan’s Babar Azam, whom he surpassed to become number one T20 batsman in September this year.
🏏 He started #SAvENG as the World No.1
🏏 He ends it by making historyDawid Malan has just achieved the HIGHEST rating points in T20I history 🤯
📈 UPDATED @MRFWorldwide ICC T20I Rankings: https://t.co/H7CnAiw0YT pic.twitter.com/85sVon3ci2
— ICC (@ICC) December 2, 2020
South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen, who showed his prime form with 136 runs in the series, has moved to 17 places to attain a career-best fifth position. While England’s Jos Buttler has gained seven slots to reach 21st position. Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis amassed 121 runs in the three-match series to get into top 20.
Among the bowlers, English leg-spinner Adil Rashid has gained three places to reach number 4. Interestingly, all top-7 bowlers are spinners.
England acquires top spot in team’s rankings
The 33-year-old batsman played a match-winning 99 runs knock in the third T20I against Proteas to take his side over the finish line. The victory assisted England to leapfrog Australia to acquire the top position in the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings.
The Eoin Morgan-led side started the series at 271 points and ended it with 275 to level with Australia. However, they are ahead with decimal points. While England have 6877 points, Australia have 6077.
After the latest rankings, South Africa and New Zealand have managed to retain their fifth and sixth positions. At the same time, West Indies have slipped behind Afghanistan to 10th place after losing the three-match series 2-0 against the Black Caps.
