South African opening batsman Dean Elgar moved to a career-high 11th in the Test batting rankings following the first Test against New Zealand last week.
Elgar made scores of 140 and 89 in the drawn Test against his Kiwi hosts in Dunedin which ended on Sunday. The 29-year-old is now just one spot in the rankings behind AB de Villiers who is taking a break from the format.
Hashim Amla is SA’s top-ranked batsman at ninth in the batting rankings. South Africa captain Faf de Plessis’s two half-centuries have seen him gain two spots to reach 19th position.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has gained two spots to reach second rank in the Test batting rankings.
The latest rankings, which also take into account performances in the first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Galle, which the home side won by 259 runs on Saturday, sees Williamson leapfrog England’s Joe Root and India’s Virat Kohli after his fine knock of 130.
Williamson, who was number-one ranked for a brief while in November-December 2015, is now on 869 points, 21 points ahead of third-placed Root but a good 67 points adrift of table leader Steve Smith of Australia, who is on 936 points.
Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Mendis’s scores of 194 and 19, which earned him the player of the match award in Galle, have also helped him gain 16 places to reach 23rd rank while his team-mate Upul Tharanga’s first century on home soil has enabled him to move up nine slots to 44th rank.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has moved up six places to 29th rank after scores of 85 and 34 while Soumya Sarkar’s two half-centuries in Galle have taken him up 25 places to 55th rank.
In the Test bowling rankings, SA’s Kagiso Rabada remains in fifth place. Playing in his 15th Test last week, Rabada returned 1/92 in the first innings. The 21-year-old remains SA’s top-ranked bowler, ahead of the injured Dale Steyn in sixth. Vernon Philander is the third-ranked Proteas bowler at ninth in the rankings.
South Africa left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj’s haul of 5/94 in New Zealand’s only innings in Dunedin has helped him gain 13 places to reach 52nd spot. – African News Agency (ANA)
