Rangana Herath return to top ten in ICC Test bowlers Rankings

In the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Rankings Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has made his way back to the top ten bowlers after his nine-wicket haul in the first Test against Australia that the home team won.

Rangana Herath and Kusal Mendis have charged up the ICC Player Rankings after steering Sri Lanka to a 105-run victory over number-one ranked Australia in the first Test in Pallekele on Saturday. It was only the second Test victory for Sri Lanka over Australia, the previous one being way back in September 1999.

Herath, who took four for 49 and five for 54, has returned to the top 10 in ninth position after rising four places in the bowling chart, while Mendis, who won the player of the match award for his 176 in the second innings, has vaulted 27 places to 21st position in the batting table. Herath’s rise means he has opened up a nine-place gap on his nearest team-mate Dhammika Prasad, who missed the first Test due to a shoulder injury. The Sri Lanka left-arm spinner is also the fourth spinner inside the top 10 after number-one ranked Ravichandran Ashwin of India, Pakistan’s fifth-ranked Yasir Shah and sixth-ranked Ravindra Jadeja of India.

For Australia, the good news is the movement of fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who has moved up one place to seventh, while left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe has climbed six places to 65th.

Mendis’ rise means he is now the second highest-ranked Sri Lanka batsman after Angelo Mathews (12th after dropping two places). Dimuth Karunaratne 36th (after slipping two places) and Kaushal Silva 43rd (after falling seven places).

The batting list is headed by Australia captain Steve Smith, although his 24-point gap with England’s second-ranked Joe Root has been trimmed to 20 points. With Root to feature against Pakistan in the third Test at Edgbaston on Wednesday, 3 August, and Smith to face Sri Lanka in the second Test in Galle on Thursday, 4 August, it will be interesting to follow how the two batsmen perform as their performances will have direct impacts on their rankings.

The other good news for Australia is the movement of Adam Voges, who has broken into the top five in fifth position for the first time. Voges scored 47 and 12, and now trails South Africa’s fourth-ranked Hashim Amla by 40 points.

Australia opener David Warner and Joe Burns, and one-down batsman Usman Khawaja have all lost ground in the latest rankings, which were updated following the conclusion of the Bulawayo Test.

Warner now shares 10th position with India captain Virat Kohli after sliding three places, whereas Khawaja and Burns have slipped two places each to claim 29th and 35th positions, respectively.

Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, BJ-Watling (all New Zealand) and Sean Williams (Zimbabwe) have made impressive gains in the MRF Test player rankings following the Bulawayo Test, which New Zealand won by an innings and 117 runs on Sunday.

Taylor, who won the player of the match award for his 173 not out, has moved up three places to 12th while Latham and Watling now share 30th position after rising two and five places, respectively.

Williams has been rewarded for his 119 in the second innings by returning to the rankings in 79th position.

Fast bowler Neil Wegner has achieved a career-high 13th ranking after his figures of six for 41 in the first innings and two for 62 in the second innings gave him a lift of four places. He now trails eighth-ranked Trent Boult by 70 points and 12th-ranked Tim Southee by 15 points.

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner’s three wickets in the match have given him a lift of 14 places and put him in 59th spot, while his teammate Ish Sodhi has returned in 66th position.

The player rankings will now be updated after the conclusion of the Jamaica Test between the West Indies and India.

ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 31 July, after Bulawayo and Pallekele Tests)

Batsmen (top 20)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points    Avge      Highest Rating

1         ( – )        Steve Smith         Aus        921        59.65    936 v Eng at Lord’s 2015

2         ( – )        Joe Root               Eng        901        56.15    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3         ( – )        Kane Williamson NZ         866        49.73    893 v Aus at Perth 2015

4         ( – )        Hashim Amla      SA         860        51.45    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

5         (+1)       Adam Voges        Aus        820*!    87.25    820 v SL at Pallekele 2016

6         (-1)        AB de Villiers     SA         818        50.46    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

7         (+1)       Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        790        48.95    842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

8         (+1)       Alastair Cook      Eng        788        47.48    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

9         (+1)       Younus Khan       Pak        784        53.19    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

10=      (+2)       Virat Kohli          Ind         757        46.28    784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

(-3)        David Warner      Aus        757        48.98    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

12        (+3)       Ross Taylor         NZ         747        47.00    871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

13=      (-2)        Angelo Mathews SL          738        47.86    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

( – )        Asad Shafiq         Pak        738        43.15    758 v Eng at Lord’s 2016

15        (-1)        Ajinkya Rahane   Ind         732        44.35    753 v SA at Delhi 2015

16        ( – )        Jonny Bairstow    Eng        712!      40.13    712 v Pak at Old Trafford 2016

17        ( – )        Murali Vijay        Ind         679        40.56    747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015

18=      ( – )        Sarfraz Ahmed    Pak        678        43.71    715 v SL at Galle 2015

( – )        C. Pujara              Ind         678        46.84    851 v SA at Durban 2013

20        ( – )        D. Chandimal      SL          664        43.91    690 v NZ at Dunedin 2015

Bowlers (top 20)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points    Avge      HS Rating

1         ( – )        R. Ashwin            Ind         876!      25.11    876 v WI at Antigua 2016

2         ( – )        James Anderson  Eng        875        28.23    884 v SL at Durham 2016

3         ( – )        Stuart Broad        Eng        852        28.42    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

4         ( – )        Dale Steyn           SA         841        22.53    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

5         ( – )        Yasir Shah           Pak        832*     25.79    878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016

6         ( – )        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         781*     23.76    789 v SA at Delhi 2015

7         (+1)       Josh Hazlewood  Aus        763*     25.12    792 v WI at Hobart 2015

8         (-1)        Trent Boult          NZ         762        28.87    825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015

9         (+4)       Rangana Herath   SL          749        29.64    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

10        (-1)        Morne Morkel     SA         724        29.33    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

11        (-1)        Vernon Philander SA         717        22.08    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

12        (-1)        Tim Southee        NZ         707        31.92    799 v WI at Jamaica 2014

13        (+4)       Neil Wagner        NZ         692*!    30.52    692 v Zim at Bulawayo 2016

14        (-2)        Nathan Lyon        Aus        688        32.65    696 v NZ at Wellington 2016

15        (-1)        Mitchell Starc     Aus        676*     30.08    692 v NZ at Adelaide 2015

16        (-1)        Peter Siddle         Aus        615        29.88    816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013

17        (-1)        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        614        33.29    700 v Zim at Khulna 2014

18        ( – )        D. Prasad             SL          595*     35.97    632 v WI at Colombo (PSS) 2015

19        ( – )        James Pattinson   Aus        585*     26.15    591 v NZ at Christchurch 2016

20        ( – )        Ishant Sharma      Ind         572                     37.06    671 v WI at Dominica 2011

All-rounders (top 5)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points    Highest Rating

1         ( – )        R. Ashwin            Ind         427       427 v WI at Antigua 2016

2         ( – )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        384       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

3=       ( – )        Stuart Broad        Eng        275       382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012

( – )        Vernon Philander SA         275*/    376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

5         ( – )        Ben Stokes           Eng        270/*    276 v SA at Centurion 2016

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

!indicates career-highest rating