New Zealand step over Pakistan in ICC Test Team Rankings

The New Zealand vs Bangladesh Test series concluded today at Christchurch with the hosts sealing a comfortable 9 wickets win on the 4th day of the Test match. They won the series 2-0 and that gave them enough points in the ICC Test Team Rankings to overtake Pakistan at the No.5 position.

The Black Caps gained two points from the series win and that accounts to 98 on the Rankings chart and so they edged the Asian side by one point and are just three short of the English team at the 4th spot who took a beating losing the Test series 4-0 to No.1 ranked India a month ago.

After losing the first match despite a splendid batting effort in the first innings where they scored a record total Bangladesh the bubble burst in the second inning and the visitors not only lost the Test but lost the fight and momentum there. New Zealand bowled them out for 289 in the first innings and in their reply managed a 65-run lead.

In the second inning, Trent Boult & Co. allowed them to score just 173 and the target was a meager 111. Their openers Jeet Raval, Tom Latham and Colin de Grandhomme batted in limited-overs style and wrapped up the chase before the conclusion of play on the penultimate day with that, they completed a clean sweep in the series.

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Bangladesh at the start of the series had 65 points in their account and have lost 3 points to slip to 62 points having conceded the series 2-0. The tour of New Zealand proved to be quite a disaster for them as they lost the across the three formats and weren’t able to register a single win on the tour including in the practice match against New Zealand XI.

Here is the latest ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 23 January 2017, after the New Zealand v Bangladesh series)

Rank     Team              Points
1          India                120
2          Australia           109
3          South Africa      107
4          England            101
5          New Zealand      98 (+2)
6          Pakistan             97
7          Sri Lanka           96
8          West Indies        69
9          Bangladesh        62 (-3)
10        Zimbabwe          05

Check out the ICC Test Batsmen’s Rankings here

Check out the ICC Test Bowlers Rankings here

Check out the ICC Test AllRounder’s Rankings here