Watson on the move yet again
Watson has moved up one place to second in the batting table after becoming the highest run-getter in the tournament to date, with 242 runs. He also achieved his career-best rating of 832 against South Africa in the Super Eight stage.
In addition to his batting exploits, Watson is also the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with 11 wickets. This effort has also helped him move up a place to sixth in the Reliance ICC T20I Rankings for bowlers, with a best-ever rating of 671.
A combined effort with the bat and ball ensures that he remains the number-one ranked all-rounder in the world. He also won four successive Player of the Match awards including two in the Super Eight stage to cap off his all-round performances.
New Zealand’s wicket-keeper batsman Brendon McCullum has retained his number-one batting spot but Chris Gayle has slipped down a place to third, while Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has moved up three places to fourth.
Tillakaratne Dilshan and Eoin Morgan have moved up to share seventh position. The Sri Lanka opener has gained three places while the Englishman has climbed four position. Virat Kohli has jumped nine places to 10th and has also achieved a career-best rating of 714.
Other batsmen to make upward movements include Umar Akmal in 15th (up by two), while Mike Hussey has broken into the top 20 for the first time, moving up four places to 19th with a career-best rating of 558.
Among the batsmen to move downwards in the top 20 are David Warner in sixth (down by two), Kumar Sangakkara in ninth (down by one), Martin Guptill in 10th (down by four), Jacques Kallis in 14th (down by five) and Yuvraj Singh in 17th (down by two).
England wicket-keeper Craig Kieswetter has dropped out of the top 20, slipping three places to 21st.
There is no change in the top three positions in the Reliance ICC T20I Rankings for bowlers headed by Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal, with England off-spinner Graeme Swann in second position and Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis in third.
New Zealand off-spinner Nathan McCullum in fourth (up by two), Mohammad Hafeez in eighth (up by one) and Nuwan Kulasekara in ninth (up by four) are among the big movers in the top 10 of the bowlers’ table.
The bowlers to lose ground include Johan Botha in fifth (down by one), Shahid Afridi in seventh (down by two), Daniel Vettori in 14th (down by one), Morne Morkel in 15th (down by three) and Tim Southee in 17th (down by one).
In the all-rounders’ list, Shakib Al Hasan has moved up a place to fourth. Chris Gayle is now fifth (up by two), while Yuvraj Singh in eighth (up by three) has moved into the top 10.
The player rankings will now be updated after the final of the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012.
Meanwhile, South Africa has lost its number-one position in the Reliance ICC T20I Championship table after failing to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012. Defeats against Pakistan, Australia and India in the Super Eight stage meant it has slipped four positions to fifth spot.
The number-one position has now been taken over by Sri Lanka, which has only lost one of its five matches in the tournament so far. Mahela Jayawardena’s team won all three matches in the Super Eight stage. This successful run has provided it a jump of three places. This means Thursday’s semi-final between Sri Lanka and Pakistan will be a match between the number-one ranked and number-three ranked sides in the world after Mohammad Hafeez’s team moved up two places as a result of its two wins in the Super Eight stage.
Pakistan trails second-ranked India by two ratings points. India missed out on a semi-final spot in the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 on a Net Run-Rate.
For details of the Reliance ICC Twenty20 rankings, go to http://www.relianceiccrankings.com/twenty20.php.