England move one place up in ICC Test rankings after series win against SA

Joe Root started his stint as England captain on a bright note as he led his country to a series win against South Africa at home. It was a tightly contested series but in the end, England played stupendously to win the 4-match series 3-1. Moeen Ali was adjudged the Man of the series for his fine performance during the course of the series.

Remarkable come back after Trent Bridge bashing

England, after getting a hammering in the second Test, won the last two games convincingly to win their first Test series at home against South Africa after 19 years. It wasn’t a series for the batsmen as only two hundreds were recorded in the 4 Test matches with skipper Root making one of them. The 26-year old finished the series as the highest run-getter with 461 runs from 8 innings at 57.62. He was the only batsman to record an average of over 50 in the series.

By virtue of their series win, England climbed to the 3rd spot in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Test Rankings. They have overtaken rivals Australia and are behind only to South Africa and India. With 105 points in their kitty, they trail by just 5 points to South Africa. Australia have 100 points against their name and could secure a few more during their away Test series in Bangladesh later this month.

India leader of the table

India are on top of the pile with 123 points to their name. They recently won the Sri Lanka series with a game to spare and are 13 points clear of the second placed South Africa. If they go on to win the third Test, India will further add a couple of points to their tally. Kohli and his men have played like champions in the last two years winning all 8 series on the trot. They lost just two games during this period, the fewest by any international team.

Here are the latest Test team rankings