New rankings best for Scotland star after League 2 efforts

Scotland all-rounder Brandon McMullen has been rewarded for his strong form at the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 event by making giant strides on the latest ICC Men's ODI Player Rankings.

McMullen helped Scotland register victories over the UAE and the Netherlands in Utrecht last week, with the 25-year-old producing Player of the Match performances in both contests as the European side rose to third on the League 2 standings.

McMullen scored an unbeaten half-century and collected three wickets in an easy victory over the UAE and followed that up with an even better performance with a century and four wickets with the ball in another clinical triumph against the Dutch.

These efforts were recognised in all three ODI rankings categories, with McMullen jumping 10 places to rise to 55th on the latest list for ODI batters and eight spots to 48th for ODI bowlers and the damaging right-hander also made an eye-catching jump on the charts for all-rounders.

McMullen gains five places on this list for ODI all-rounders to rise to sixth overall, surpassing the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Glenn Maxwell and Rashid Khan in the process and earning a new career-high rating.

A host of McMullen's teammates also rose the rankings this week, with left-handed opener George Munsey gaining six places to move to equal 36th on the list for ODI batters and skipper Richie Berrington moving up five places to equal 57th in the same category.

There is also some joy for Safyaan Sharif on the rankings for ODI bowlers, with the experienced seamer improving eight spots to equal 64th following a pair of tidy efforts with the ball against the UAE and Netherlands.

The start of the T20I series between Bangladesh and the UAE has also seen some change in the rankings for the shortest format, with in-form skipper Muhammad Waseem the biggest winner following his innings of 54 and 82 from the first two contests.

The UAE star was adjudged Player of the Match for his knock in the second T20I as UAE levelled the series and the right-hander was duly rewarded by gaining eight spots to improve to 19th overall on the latest rankings for T20I batters.