Dubai: New Zealand's team reached the number one spot for the first time in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) rankings, beating Australia.
New Zealand defeated Pakistan 2–0 in a two-Test series that benefited them and Kiwis surged past Australia to number one rank. New Zealand defeated Pakistan by 101 runs in the first Test and by an innings and 176 runs in the second Test.
According to the latest rankings, New Zealand is at first rank with 118 rating points and Australia with 116 rating points. The Indian team is in third place with 114 rating points. England is fourth with 106 points and South Africa fifth with 96 rating points.
Recently, South Africa also made a clean sweep by defeating Sri Lanka 2–0 in the two-match Test. Sri Lanka team is ranked sixth in the Test rankings with 86 points and Pakistan is ranked seventh with 82 rating points.
The win puts New Zealand at 420 in the World Test Championship and is ahead of India and Australia in points. India has 390 and Australia has 322. Despite being on top in terms of points, New Zealand is ranked third in the World Championship points table. It is noteworthy that the ICC decided to base the result of the Test Championship on the basis of the percentage system.(WD)