World No.1 batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has stretched his lead at the top of the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) batting rankings, following his two half-centuries in the opening Lord's Test against England last weekend.
Published: May 23, 2012, 02:34 PM (IST)
Edited: May 23, 2012, 02:34 PM (IST)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul is 57 rating points ahead of AB de Villiers, the next best © Getty Images
Dubai: May 23, 2012
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World No.1 batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has stretched his lead at the top of the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) batting rankings, following his two half-centuries in the opening Lord’s Test against England last weekend.
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The veteran left-hander has now moved to 878 rating points, 57 clear of the second placed South African batsman AB de Villiers, whom he recently replaced at the top.
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Chanderpaul is now 22 points shy of the 900-point mark yet again, which he last reached four years ago.
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Chanderpaul stroked 87 in the first innings and 91 in the second as the West Indies put up a brave fight before losing to England an hour before tea on the final day of the Test match.
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Batsman Marlon Samuels also enjoyed healthy movement in the rankings, jumping eight places to 55th after his second innings of 86.
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Opener Adrian Barath also made a leap in the batting rankings, rising 14 spots following scores of 42 and 14.
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There was no such luck, however, for vice-captain Kirk Edwards whose double failure at Lord’s saw him plunge nine places to 53rd. The right-hander scored one and nought.
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Meanwhile, speedster Kemar Roach has jumped one place to a career-best ranking of 16th following his match-haul of six for 168.
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His spell of three for 60 in the second innings put England on the backfoot for the first time during the game.
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There was much for captain Darren Sammy to celebrate as he moved five places up to 68th in the batting rankings and two places to 23rd in the bowling rankings.
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He is now ranked eighth among Test all-rounders. (IANS)
