Johannesburg and Wellington Test centurions on the charge in latest ICC rankings
South Africa’s Hashim Amla, who while scoring 134 became the eighth batsman to score a century in his 100th Test, has jumped four places to claim sixth position, while JP Duminy, who scored 155 and added 292 runs for the third wicket with Amla, has vaulted nine places to secure a career-high 33rd position.
Captain Faf du Plessis and Dean Elgar, who won the player of the series award, finished in joint-21st position.
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, who was one of South Africa’s stars in its ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2014 triumph, stole the bowling limelight when he returned figures of three for 44 and two for 50.
For this performance, he has earned a rise of three places which has puts him in fifth position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers.
Radaba is now South Africa’s highest-ranked bowler, one place ahead of Dale Steyn who missed the series due to an injury.
Rabada leads Steyn by two points and trails Sri Lanka’s fourth-ranked spinner Rangana Herath by six points.
For Sri Lanka, the only good news is the rise of fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep, who has leaped six places to a career-best 33rd spot following figures of four for 78 in South Africa’s only innings.
South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 118 runs in Johannesburg, which gave it a 3-0 series win.
The result means third-ranked South Africa has gained four points and has moved up to 107 points, two behind Australia, while seventh-ranked Sri Lanka has dropped four points to finish on 92 points.
The Wellington Test produced some exceptional batting performances from both the sides and these have been duly recognised in the latest Test player rankings.
Shakib Al Hasan, who scored 217 (highest individual score by a Bangladesh batsman in Test cricket) has achieved a career-high ranking of 23rd after jumping eight places, while captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored 159 and put on 359 runs for the fifth wicket with Shakib, has risen 10 places to claim 35th position.
New Zealand’s 539-run response to Bangladesh’s 595-8d revolved around left-handed opener Tom Latham who scored 177.
This performance is notable in the latest rankings as he has climbed five places to 31st.
After New Zealand was set a victory target of 217 runs, captain Kane Williamson stroked an undefeated 104 to help his side romp home with seven wickets to spare. For this achievement, fourth-ranked Williamson has earned 29 points which has put him just two points shy of third-ranked Joe Root.
If Williamson performs strongly at the Hagley Oval, then he will potentially return to number-three ranking.
Although the Test team rankings are updated at the end of a series, New Zealand has placed itself nicely to move ahead of Pakistan in team rankings.
However, to make it happen, it will have to win the Christchurch Test which starts on Friday.
If New Zealand wins the Test, then it will move one point ahead of Pakistan, while in case of a draw, it will join Pakistan on 97 points but will be behind by a fraction of a point.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (after the conclusion of South Africa and Sri Lanka Test series)
Rank Team Points
1. India 120
2. Australia 109
3. South Africa 107 (+4)
4. England 101
5. Pakistan 97
6. New Zealand 96
7. Sri Lanka 92 (-4)
8. West Indies 69
9. Bangladesh 65
10. Zimbabwe 5
(Developed by David Kendix)
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (after Johannesburg and Wellington Tests)
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 933 60.15 937 v Pak at Melbourne 2016
2 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 875 50.10 886 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
3 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 848 52.80 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4 ( - ) K. Williamson NZ 846 50.57 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 ( - ) David Warner Aus 812 49.16 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6 (+4) Hashim Amla SA 787 49.99 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
7 (-1) Azhar Ali Pak 779 47.07 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
8 (-1) Younus Khan Pak 772 53.06 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
9 (-1) Quinton de Kock SA 760* 51.04 769 v SL at Cape Town 2017
10 (-1) AB de Villiers SA 755 50.46 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
Selected
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
16 (+1) Ross Taylor NZ 703 46.75 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
17 (-3) Angelo Mathews SL 702 46.08 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014
20 (+2) Tamim Iqbal Ban 666 40.35 707 v Eng at Old Trafford 2010
21= (-2) Faf du Plessis SA 664 43.68 710 v WI at Port Elizabeth 2014
( - ) Dean Elgar SA 664 38.60 673 v SL at Cape Town 2017
23 (+8) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 659! 40.85 659 v NZ at Wellington 2017
28 (+1) Mominul Haque Ban 636* 51.15 661 v Pak at Mirpur 2015
31 (+5) Tom Latham NZ 617! 39.05 617 v Ban at Wellington 2017
32 (-6) D. Chandimal SL 612 41.08 692 v Aus at Colombo (SSC) 2016
33 (+9) JP Duminy SA 593! 34.77 593 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
34 ( - ) BJ Watling NZ 591 38.84 644 v Eng at Headingley 2015
35 (+10) Mushfiqur Rahim Ban 572 33.58 604 v Zim at Mirpur 2014
36 (+3) Kusal Mendis SL 571* 31.55 692 v Aus at Galle 2016
37 (-5) Stephen Cook SA 570* 41.00 638 v SL at Port Elizabeth 2016
40 (-7) D. de Silva SL 551* 45.00 612 v Zim at Harare 2016
44 ( - ) D. Karunaratne SL 527 32.83 619 v WI at Galle 2015
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 887 24.96 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
2 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 879! 24.07 879 v Eng at Chennai 2016
3 ( - ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 860! 24.78 860 v Pak at Sydney 2017
4 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 827 28.31 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
5 (+3) Kagiso Rabada SA 821*! 21.76 821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
6 (-1) Dale Steyn SA 819 22.30 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
7 (-1) James Anderson Eng 810 28.50 884 v SL at Durham 2016
8 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 803 28.54 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
9 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 798 21.40 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
10 ( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 770 28.29 805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016
Selected
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
11 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 758 28.81 760 v SA at Centurion 2016
12 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 718 29.36 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
13 ( - ) Tim Southee NZ 680 32.02 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014
15 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 661 32.44 700 v Zim at Khulna 2014
16 ( - ) Dilruwan Perera SL 652* 27.85 674 v Zim at Harare 2016
24 ( - ) D. Prasad SL 555* 35.97 632 v WI at Colombo (PSS) 2015
33 (+6) Nuwan Pradeep SL 477*! 42.98 477 v SA at Johannesburg 2017
34 (-4) Suranga Lakmal SL 473* 45.10 500 v SA at Cape Town 2017
36 (-1) Mehedi Hasan Ban 458* 22.80 463 v Eng at Mirpur 2016
39 (-2) Taijul Islam Ban 432* 32.13 446 v Pak at Khulna 2015
42 ( - ) Doug Bracewell NZ 382* 38.83 538 v WI at Jamaica 2012
45 ( - ) Imran Tahir SA 372* 40.24 426 v Ind at Nagpur 2015
47 (-1) Mark Craig NZ 369* 46.52 405 v Aus at Wellington 2016
All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 482 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
2 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 436! 436 v NZ at Wellington 2017
3 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 376*/ ! 376 v Eng at Chennai 2016
4 ( - ) Ben Stokes Eng 327 /* 351 v Ind at Mohali 2016
5 ( - ) Moeen Ali Eng 312 /* 347 v Ind at Rajkot 2016
image: www.icc-cricket.com
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