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Bangladesh push past Australia, Pakistan in T20 rankings

Bangladesh have moved up to No. 4* on the ICC's Twenty20 rankings, after beating Ireland 3-0 on their tour of Europe. For now, only England, South Africa and Sri Lanka lie above Bangladesh in the rankings.

Bangladesh had broken into the rankings for the first time after their one-run win in the second match of the series; they had catapulted into the No. 6 spot, ahead of New Zealand, India and West Indies. Saturday's last-ball win lifted them further up the list, past Australia and Pakistan.

Ireland, who were in ninth position ahead of the series, dropped two places to eleventh, meaning Afghanistan move into tenth.

According to the ICC rules, only teams that have played at least eight Twenty20 internationals in the period starting August 1 2009 to date (the qualifying period changes every August) will get a ranking.

Their elevated position is perhaps more than what captain Mushfiqur Rahim had hoped for ahead of Bangladesh's tour to Europe; he was eager, he said, to just break into the rankings. "We are still not good in the new format of the game. Due to lack of international matches we are not even in the ICC Twenty20 international rankings, while even Afghanistan occupies a spot in the rankings," Mushfiqur had told reporters before leaving Dhaka. "We have a chance to break into the [rankings] table if we can win matches on this tour."

To view the ICC rankings, click here.

*GMT 10:52, July 22: This story has been updated after Bangladesh moved from No. 6 to No. 4 in the rankings.