South Africa captain Hashim Amla’s double-century against the West Indies in the Centurion Test has helped him return to the top three of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.
Amla scored 208 and featured in a 308-run fourth wicket partnership with AB de Villiers (152), a performance that has helped him rise three places to third in the latest rankings, which were release on Saturday following the conclusion of Brisbane and Centurion Tests.
Amla now trails de Villiers by 10 ratings points, while he leads fourth-ranked Angelo Mathews by 21 ratings points. West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul has slipped two places to fifth and is now 26 points adrift of his South Africa counterpart.
Also making an upward movement from the Centurion Test is Vernon Philander, South Africa’s fast bowler. Philander, who played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2004 in Bangladesh, has moved up three places to third in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after figures of four for 29 and one for six.
Dale Steyn of South Africa has not only retained his number-one ranking, but while taking six for 34 in the second innings, he has achieved his career-best rating of 909 ratings points. From the Brisbane Test between Australia and India, Steven Smith, Murali Vijay, Chris Rogers and Ajinkya Rahane have made upward movements.
Smith, in his debut Test as Australia captain, scored 133 and 28, and has, therefore, moved up one place to seventh position. He now trails team-mate David Warner, who has fallen two places, by 31 ratings points.
Vijay, who scored 144 and 27, has gained eight places in the latest rankings to claim 20th position for the first time in his career. He now trails Virat Kohli, who has dropped three places to 19th in the batting chart, by 13 ratings points.
Two half-centuries in the Test have given Rogers a lift of five places and he is now in 28th spot, while Rahane’s 81 and 10 has earned him six places, which has put him in 41st position. The batting table is headed by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, with de Villiers in second position.
By: ICC
