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.
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.
🇳🇿 NEW ZEALAND ARE NO.1️⃣🎉
— ICC (@ICC) January 6, 2021
Victory over Pakistan has sent Kane Williamson's side to the 🔝 of the @MRFWorldwide ICC Test Team Rankings!
They have achieved the feat for the first time in rankings history 👏 pic.twitter.com/8lKm6HebtO
New Zealand's last 6 Test matches:-
— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) January 6, 2021
Beat IND by 10 wickets
Beat IND by 7 wickets
Beat WI by inns & 134 runs
Beat WI by inns & 12 runs
Beat PAK by 101 runs
Beat PAK by inns & 176 runs
FIRST time New Zealand won 6 Tests in a row. Previous best is 5 in a row in 2005-06.#NZvPAK