South Africa finish second in Tests before April 1 cut-off date

DUBAI: South Africa finished second on the ICC Test Team Rankings before the April 1 cut-off date after the Hamilton Test ended in a draw on Wednesday.

The result, which gave South Africa a 1-0 series win, earned Faf du Plessis’s side two ranking points and helped the Proteas move one point ahead of Australia in second place.

New Zealand dropped two rankings points and consequently slipped behind Pakistan into the sixth place.

As New Zealand versus South Africa series was the last series to finish before the April 1 annual cut-off, South Africa’s number-two ranking won them an award of $500,000, while Australia will collect $200,000.

England, who ended fourth, will receive $100,000.

India retained the mace and pocketed $1 million following their 2-1 series win over Australia on Tuesday.

It was India’s fifth successive series win in the 12-month period from April 1, 2016, following successes against the West Indies (2-0), New Zealand (3-0), England (4-0) and Bangladesh (1-0).