After bouncing back to national team colours for the first time in five years in April this year, top Zimbabwe bowler Luke Jongwe has achieved his highest ranking as a T20i bowler, sitting in 50th position on the latest ICC rankings.
Jongwe shares the position with crack South African seamer Kagiso Rabada.
This is the first time that the 26-year-old pacer has broken into the top 50 in the T20 bowling rankings and becomes the fourth Zimbabwean among the 50 best bowlers in the shortest format of the game.
Zimbabwe's best figures in men's T20Is ✅
Sealed their first win against Pakistan ✅Luke Jongwe was on fire today 🔥 #ZIMvPAK pic.twitter.com/mb8GJiDsRf
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 23, 2021
Richard Ngarava is the highest placed Zimbabwean on the standings in 31st position while Blessing Muzarabani is 41st and Wellington Masakadza is ranked 43rd.
However, it has been a brilliant season for Jongwe in the format of the game as he ranks seventh among the top wicket takers in the calendar with 26 scalps in 14 matches despite having last played in September against Scotland.
The leading wicket taker in T20i cricket this season is Sri Lankan Pinnaduwage Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva who boasts of 36 dismissals but has played six matches more than the Zimbabwean.
De Silva added 16 to his tally from participating at the T20 World Cup and four of the players above Jongwe were at the global showpiece.
Jongwe took four wickets for 18 runs, his best innings this year, to help Zimbabwe record a famous 19-run victory over Pakistan in April, a match in which he mimicked the famous ‘shoe celebration’.