Siphakeme .Mnindwa
ZIMBABWEAN bowler Craig Ervine was among the highest movers in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings
He moved from 47th to 37th, a remarkable feat after recent Test matches on home soil.
He was not the only notable mover as Blessing Muzarabani among the cream of Zimbabwe cricketers is now ranked 43rd in the world after moving five places up.
In the latest weekly rankings that also take into consideration the second Test between South Africa and Pakistan in Cape Town and the second Test between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in Bulawayo, South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj has advanced two places to 17th position after taking five wickets in Cape Town and Rashid Khan of Afghanistan re-entered at 54th position.
Meanwhile, Australia fast bowler Scott Boland has broken into the top 10 of the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings for the first time after helping his team defeat India by six wickets in Sydney to win their ICC World Test Championship series 3-1.
The 35-year-old, who finished with a haul of 10 for 86 in the fifth Test match, has progressed 29 slots and is ranked joint-ninth along with India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Boland’s previous best was 36th position that he had attained in June 2023 after picking five wickets in the ICC World Test Championship Final against India.
Jasprit Bumrah remains at the top of the list adding one rating point and going up to 908 (improving on the record for Indian bowlers) even as Australia captain Pat Cummins and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada have inched up a slot each to reach second and third positions, respectively. Huge gains for South Africa batters:
South Africa batters have made huge inroads after their 10-wicket victory over Pakistan. Ryan Rickelton’s match-winning 259 has lifted him 48 places to 55th position while captain Temba Bavuma (up three places to a career-best-equalling sixth position) and wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne (up four places to 24th) have also advanced after notching centuries.
Rishabh Pant of India is back in the top 10, while Pakistan’s Baba Azam (up five places to 12th) and Shan Masood (up 12 places to 45th) and Afghanistan’s Rahmad Shah (up 26 places to 26th) are among others to move the batting rankings.
South Africa’s Marco Jansen, named Player of the Series after finishing with 10 wickets and 80 runs, has moved up two slots to second among all-rounders.
In the Men’s ODI Rankings, Will Young (up nine places to joint-13th) and Rachin Ravindra (up six places to joint-50th) in batting and Matt Henry (up six places to 12th) in bowling have gained after the first match of their series against Sri Lanka in Wellington.
Kusal Perera (up 26 places to 10th) of Sri Lanka and Daryl Mitchell (up five places to 41st) of New Zealand have moved up the T20I batting list after the last match of a preceding T20I series while Nuwan Thushara (up nine places to 26th) and Henry (up four places to 38th) are among the bowlers to progress. —icc-cricket.com/Sports Reporter
daniel chigunwe
