Masakadza ranked 10th in world

Veteran Zimbabwean batsman Hamilton Masakadza has been ranked among the top 10 players in the world in Twenty20 Internationals.

The seasoned top order player is ranked 10th on the latest table released by the International Cricket Council.

Masakadza was part of the Zimbabwe team which failed to qualify for the next ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales after a shock three-run defeat at the hands of minnows United Arab Emirates at Harare Sports Club.

Needing just to beat the UAE, the weakest team in the Super Six stage, the Zimbabweans choked and crashed to a humiliating defeat when they had been expected to win the match without raising much of a sweat.

The ICC Cricket World Cup is a 50-over contest. Masakadza fell cheaply in that match against the UAE.

However, the hard-hitting batsman, is ranked highly in the Twenty20 Internationals at 10th place.

He has 648 points.

Afghanistan’s colourful opener Mohamed Shahzad is ranked ninth on 655 points while Indian superstar Virat Kohli is ranked eighth with 670 points. Alex Hayles, the England opener who used to be a teammate of Brendan Taylor at Nottinghamshire, is ranked seventh with 679 points while Windies batsman Evin Lewis is in sixth place with 691 points.

The top five has Pakistan’s Babar Azam (881 points); Colin Munro of New Zealand (801 points); Glenn Maxwell of Australia (799 points); Aaron Finch of Australia (763 points) and Martin Guptill of New Zealand who has 747 points.

Malcolm Waller is the next highest ranked Zimbabwean in 24th place with 253 points while Sikandar Raza is the third in 91st place with 253 points.The Herald