Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath has climbed to second position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after grabbing his eighth 10-wicket match haul and helping win the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Colombo by four wickets on Tuesday.
In the latest rankings update, which also includes performances in the second Test between England and South Africa which the latter won by 340 runs at Trent Bridge on Monday to level the four-match series 1-1, Herath has leapfrogged Ravichandran Ashwin to move within 32 points of Ravindra Jadeja, making it a 1-2 for left-arm spinners.
The 39-year-old Herath, who is the most successful left-arm spinner in Tests with a tally of 384 wickets in 81 matches, finished with a match haul of 11 for 249 in Colombo to move up a list in which England’s James Anderson and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood are the highest ranked pace bowlers in joint-fourth position.
Herath was not the only left-arm spinner to gain in the rankings. South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj’ has moved up 12 slots to 26th position after grabbing six wickets at Trent Bridge. Maharaj now tallies 543 points, the fourth highest by a South Africa spinner since the country’s return to Test cricket in 1992. Paul Harris (705), Paul Adams (588) and Nicky Boje (545) are the only South Africa spinners with higher point tallies in this period.
Zimbabwe captain and leg-spinner Graeme Cremer’s nine wickets in Colombo have helped him gain 20 places to a career-best 53rd slot while Anderson’s seven wickets at Trent Bridge have pushed him up one place from fifth position.
In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, Hashim Amla is back in the top 10, having gained six places to reach seventh position with knocks of 78 and 87 against England, while Zimbabwe batsman Craig Ervine’ (up 20 places to 40th) and Sikandar Raza (up 28 places to 48th) have attained career-best positions after knocking up centuries against Sri Lanka.
For Sri Lanka, player of the match Asela Gunaratne has gained 19 positions to reach a career-high rank of 79th after innings of 45 and 80 not out, which enabled a successful chase after being set a huge target of 388 runs for a win by Zimbabwe.
South Africa all-rounder Vernon Philander has, meanwhile, made a charge back towards the number one spot for all-rounders with a player of the match performance at Trent Bridge. Philander scored 54 and 42 and grabbed five wickets against England to gain two places and reach fifth position in a list led by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 19 July, after the second Test between England and South Africa in Nottingham and the one-off Test between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Colombo).
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 941! 61.05 941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017
2 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 886 53.57 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
3 ( - ) K. Williamson NZ 880 51.16 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
4 ( - ) C. Pujara Ind 846 51.32 861 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
5 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 818 49.41 895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017
6 ( - ) Q. de Kock SA 793* 49.03 802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017
7 (+6) Hashim Amla SA 778 49.43 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
8 (-1) Azhar Ali Pak 769 46.86 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
9 (-1) David Warner Aus 759 47.42 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
10 (-1) Lokesh Rahul Ind 739*! 44.44 739 v Aus at Dharamsala 2017
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
16 (+1) Faf du Plessis SA 692 44.78 710 v WI at Port Elizabeth 2014
40 (+20) Craig Ervine Zim 536*! 37.95 536 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017
48 (+28) Sikandar Raza Zim 497*! 39.42 497 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017
79 (+19) A. Gunaratne SL 371*! 56.87 371 v Zim at Colombo (RPS) 2017
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) R. Jadeja Ind 898 23.12 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
2 (+1) R. Herath SL 866 27.72 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
3 (-1) R. Ashwin Ind 865 25.22 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
4= (+1) J. Anderson Eng 826 28.27 884 v SL at Durham 2016
( - ) J. Hazlewood Aus 826 25.39 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
6= (+1) Kagiso Rabada SA 785* 24.09 821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 785 28.67 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
8 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 779 22.30 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
9 (+1) V. Philander SA 767 22.21 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
10 (-1) Neil Wagner NZ 745 28.90 767 v SA at Dunedin 2017
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
21 (+1) Ben Stokes Eng 579* 34.78 589 v Ind at Mohali 2016
26 (+12) K. Maharaj SA 543*! 25.77 543 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2017
53 (+20) G. Cremer Zim 311*! 47.80 311 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017
61 (+2) Lahiru Kumara SL 270* 39.36 276 v SA at Johannesburg 2017
All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( - ) S. Al Hasan Ban 431 443 v NZ at Christchurch 2017
2 ( - ) R. Jadeja Ind 422! 422 v Aus at Dharamsala 2017
3 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 413 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
4 ( - ) Moeen Ali Eng 379 384 v SA at Lord’s 2017
5 (+2) V. Philander SA 351 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
