After completing a 2-0 whitewash against Pakistan, New Zealand leapfrogged Australia to take top position in the ICC Test Team Rankings and become the world No 1 Test team for the first time in history.
New Zealand have been impressive at home after beating India 2-0 at the start of 2020. Once cricket restarted after lockdown, they beat West Indies 2-0 and have followed that up with a similar scoreline against Pakistan.
On Wednesday, they beat Pakistan in the second Test by an innings and 176 runs, riding on a double century by captain Kane Williamson and a 11-wicket match haul by young all-rounder Kyle Jamieson.
In the 52nd over of the innings, Jamieson recorded his five-wicket haul as he clean-bowled Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan (10). Before the tea interval, Kiwis also dismissed Fawad Alam (16) and the hosts were just three wickets away from victory in the second Test. Faheem Ashraf played a knock of 28 runs, but he was sent back to the pavilion by Jamieson in the 72nd over and after this dismissal, the Kiwis quickly wrapped up the tail and the side recorded a well-deserved victory. Pakistan was bowled out for 186 in the second innings. Jamieson had also taken five wickets in the first innings and in the end, he finished the match with a total of 11 wickets. Earlier, New Zealand had declared their first innings at 659/6, with a lead of 362 runs after bundling out Pakistan for 297.
Australia and India are both in with a chance to go top based on their result in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. A 2-1 or 3-1 series win for Australia in will take them back to No 1. A drawn series will keep New Zealand at No 1. Meanwhile, a 3-1 series win in Australia will take India to the top of the rankings.
