ICC T20 Rankings: Hazlewood, Finch, Warner make advances after match-winning performances against Sri Lanka
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ustralian pacer Josh Hazlewood has risen to number 2 in the latest ICC T20I Bowling Rankings.
Fresh from a consistent performance in the ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai last year and an eye-catching effort at the recent IPL, Hazlewood showed his class with a four-wicket haul for Australia during their dominant 10-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
That match-winning spell helped Hazlewood overtake England spinner Adil Rashid and claim second place on the latest rankings for bowlers, with South African spinner Tabraiz Shamsi now within striking distance for the Australian right-armer.
Shamsi has a total of 784 points, with Hazlewood's rating rising to 778 points and just a total of six points behind the experienced left-armer.
There was also some movement in the T20 batter rankings following Australia's victory in Colombo, with veteran skipper Aaron Finch regaining his position in the top five following his unbeaten knock of 61.
Finch looked to be back somewhere near his best during his 40-ball innings as the right-hander overtook New Zealand's Devon Conway into fifth place on the rankings.
Fellow opener David Warner finished with 70* in that match and jumped eight spots to claim 45th place on the rankings in the process, but it was not just the Australia players that made some large gains.
Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka looked good for his 36 against Australia and was rewarded as he rose to a career-high rating of 689 and seventh place on the rankings for batters.
Team-mate Charith Asalanka - who top-scored for Sri Lanka with 38 - jumped a whopping 14 spots to move to 29th overall.
While there was not much change near the top of the latest ICC ODI batting rankings, a pair of Afghanistan players made a move on the bowling and all-rounder rankings.
Veteran right-armer Mohammad Nabi has six wickets to his name during the first two matches of Afghanistan's ODI series against Zimbabwe and his good form has seen him rise eight spots to 11th overall on the bowler rankings.
Team-mate Rashid Khan is one spot ahead of Nabi in 10th on the bowler rankings, but the champion white-ball spinner has jumped one place to third on the list of T20 all-rounders.
Rashid has 39 runs and four wickets to his name through the first two games of the series and both he and Nabi could continue to climb as Afghanistan's series against Zimbabwe comes to a close.
✔️ ICC T20 Rankings: Hazlewood, Finch, Warner make advances after match-winning performances against Sri Lanka
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