New Delhi: South African pacer Kagiso Rabada who has been banned from the remainder of the Test series against Australia on Tuesday regained the top spot among bowlers in latest ICC Test rankings following an impressive outing in the second Test at Port Elizabeth.
Rabada wrecked havoc against the Aussie batsmen, clinching 11-150 in the second encounter also crossed the coveted 900-point mark in ratings with the effort. The Man if the Match also helped the hosts to level the four-match series at 1-1.
Rabada vaulted over James Anderson to the top position and is now 15 points ahead of the England pace bowler at 902 points. The 22-year-old is the 23rd bowler to cross 900 points and only the fourth South Africa player to do so after Vernon Philander (highest of 912 points in 2013), Shaun Pollock (909 in 1999) and Dale Steyn (909 in 2014).
Team mate AB de Villiers is another major gainer in the latest rankings update, his scores of 126 not out and 28 helping him move up five slots to reach seventh position in the batsmen’s list led by Australia captain Steve Smith.
Hashim Amla too moved up one place to ninth position while Lungi Ngidi has gained 12 slots in the list of bowlers to reach 37th position after grabbing five wickets in the match.
Meanwhile, New Zealand and England play a two-Test series that overlaps with the final two Tests of the South Africa-Australia Test series. A series win for England could see them overtake New Zealand to take fourth position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings as the latter are just one point ahead at 100 points. On the other hand, New Zealand could overtake Australia to third position if they win their series and Australia go on to lose 3-1 to South Africa.
India have already been presented with the ICC Test Championship Mace and a $1 million prize money after being assured of the top place at the 3 April cut-off date, South Africa are assured of the second prize of $500,000 while the third and fourth sides get $200,000 and $100,000, respectively.