Jacob Oram has made an instant impact on the ICC Batting Rankings after his impressive return to Test cricket.
The all-rounder his best-ever Test score of 133 against South Africa in Centurion, after over a year away from the five-day international scene.
He re-entered the rankings in 29th position, second among BLACKCAPS to Stephen Fleming (24th) and only nine points short of his best-ever points haul.
Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum has moved up five places to 41st, with a best-ever points total (519), after two explosive innings in the Republic.
After breaking the 2000-run mark with his knocks of 81 and 38, and two first Test wickets, BLACKCAPS vice-captain Daniel Vettori has leapt into third place in the ICC Player Rankings for All-rounders
Those scores, coupled with his two wickets in the second innings, have moved him up two places, behind Proteas counterpart Jacques Kallis and England’s Andrew Flintoff.
James Franklin has broken into the top 20 after six wickets in the Test, and lies in 19th, 10 places adrift of top BLACKCAP Shane Bond.
South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini is in second place in the rankings, and made up ground on leader Muttiah Muralidaran, trailing the Sri Lankan by just 17 points after back-to-back 10-wicket matches.
LG ICC Test Championship
(After the Bangladesh v Australia series and first SA v BLACKCAPS Test)
1 Australia 131
2 England 113
3 India 111
4 Pakistan 109
5 BLACKCAPS 101
6 South Africa 98
7 Sri Lanka 95
8 West Indies 72
9 Zimbabwe 27
10 Bangladesh 3
