Narine breaks into ICC top 20

Dubai, July 25 (IANS/CMC) West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine has broken into the top 20 for the first time in the International Cricket Council Player Rankings for ODI bowlers.

Narine, buoyed by impressive spells against New Zealand recently, jumped 23 places to move to the 13th position, according to the latest rankings released by the ICC Tuesday, reports CMC.

The 24-year-old Trinidadian was the star player for the West Indies who triumphed over New Zealand 4-1 in their just concluded ODI series.

Narine engineered New Zealand's demise in the fifth ODI by claiming a career best five-wicket haul to finish with 13 wickets in the series.

He finished the game with the best bowling analysis by a West Indian against New Zealand in an ODI and the best ODI figures at Warner Park to earn the Man-of-the-Match award.

News of Narine's ascendancy in the international rankings comes as he prepares to make his test debut in the Caribbean.

He has been chosen as the frontline spinner in the first Test between the West Indies and New Zealand starting in Antigua Wednesday.

Meanwhile, West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell also figured impressively in the latest ICC player rankings.

Russell jumped 26 spots to be ranked 38th in the batting rankings and 10th among ODI all-rounder in a list topped by Bangladesh's Shakib al Hasan.

Both rankings are the highest to date for the 24-year-old Jamaican.

The bowler's list is still topped by South Africa's Lonwabo Tsotsobe while South Africa's Hashim Amla also tops the rankings for ODI batsmen.

--IANS/CMC

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