Centurions move up in Test Rankings

DUBAI: The six centurions from the recently concluded Test matches in Johannesburg and Wellington have risen sharply in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, which were released on Tuesday morning.

South Africa’s Hashim Amla, who while scoring 134 became the eighth batsman to score a century in his 100th Test, jumped four places to claim sixth position.

JP Duminy, who scored 155, 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 21st position.

Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada stole the bowling limelight when he returned figures of three for 44 and two for 50. For this, he earned a rise of three places which put him in the fifth position in ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers.

Rabada 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 fourth-ranked Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath by six points.

Sri Lanka’s fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep 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. Third-ranked South Africa gained four points and moved up to 107 points, two behind Australia.  Seventh-ranked Sri Lanka dropped four points to finish on 92.

The Wellington Test produced some exceptional batting performances from both sides. Shakib Al Hasan, who scored 217 (highest individual score by a Bangladesh batsman in Test cricket) achieved a career-high ranking of 23 after jumping eight places.

Captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored 159, rose 10 places to claim the 35th position.

New Zealand’s Tom Latham’s 177 took him five places up to the 31st spot.

Captain Kane Williamson’s undefeated 104 gave him 29 points, which put him just two points shy of third-ranked Joe Root.