Smith inches closer to Kohli in Test rankings

DUBAI: Steve Smith followed his two centuries in Edgbaston with a 92 at Lord’s and has now overtaken Kane Williamson in the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen.

Smith is now trailing the top-ranked Virat Kohli by only nine points. On the other hand, Joe Root has dropped three places to the ninth position following a string of low scores in the ongoing Ashes.

Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, who stroked a century and bagged the Player of the Match award against New Zealand in Galle, has jumped four places to No 8 in the batsman’s rankings. Niroshan Dickwella and Angelo Mathews - both of whom scored fifties in the first innings - too have seen a significant jump in the position on the table, now placed at 14 and 33 respectively. Ben Stokes, who stroked an unbeaten 115 in the second innings at Lord’s, moved six places higher to No 26 in the rankings. Marnus Labuschagne, who came on as a concussion substitute for Smith in the second innings and scored a handy 59, rose 16 places to 82. The other players to make significant progress in the batting rankings include Jonny Bairstow (7 places to 30), Rory Burns (17 places to 64) and Travis Head (2 places to 18).

Among the bowlers, Jofra Archer made his mark at No 83 in the rankings after an impressive debut, where he bagged five wickets. Jack Leach, who returned with four scalps in his sixth Test, has moved eight spots up to 40. Pat Cummins, meanwhile, consolidated his position at the top of the charts amongst bowlers and moved to a career-best 914 points, thereby equaling legendary pacer, Glenn McGrath, for most points by an Australian bowler.