Morkel rockets up rankings after Newlands heroics

Cricket365
March 27, 2018

Fast bowlers Trent Boult and Morne Morkel have made significant gains in the ICC Test player rankings after their player of the match efforts in the Auckland and Cape Town Tests, respectively.

New Zealand’s new-ball bowler Boult has moved up five slots to seventh position after his match haul of nine for 99 helped defeat England by an innings and 49 runs to go 1-0 up in their two-match series.

The left-arm bowler took six wickets as England were dismissed for only 58 runs in the first innings in Auckland, their sixth-lowest total ever.

Morkel has similarly moved up five places to take sixth position, grabbing nine for 110 to help the Proteas defeat Australia by 322 runs and take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.

The lanky paceman has risen to 798 points, his best ever rating points tally with just one Test to go for retirement. Morkel’s highest ever ranking position was third in November 2010.

There is no change among the top five bowlers but Australia pace bowler Pat Cummins is another one to move up, his seven wickets in Cape Town taking him to 18th position, the first time he has made it to the top 20.

Proteas openers Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram have both attained career-best rankings. Elgar’s first innings score of 141 not out, when he carried the bat for a record-equaling third time in Tests, has lifted him to eighth position while Markram’s second innings score of 84 has helped him gain seven slots and reach 15th place.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (up one place to third) and middle-order batsman Henry Nicholls (up 22 places to 32nd), South Africa’s Quinton de Kock (up five places to 19th) and Australia opener Cameron Bancroft (up 22 places to 56th) are among the others to move up in the latest rankings.

Disgraced Australia captain Steve Smith still tops the rankings in the batting department.

Batting rankings (Top 10)

Rank	( /-)	Player	Team	Pts	Avge	Highest Rating
1	( – )	Steve Smith	Aus	938	61.37	947 v SA at Durban 2018
2	( – )	Virat Kohli	Ind	912!	53.40	912 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
3	( 1)	Kane Williamson	NZ	878	51.11	893 v Aus at Perth 2015
4	(-1)	Joe Root	Eng	870	52.77	917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
5	( – )	David Warner	Aus	828	48.20	880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6	( 1)	AB de Villiers	SA	819	50.81	935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
7	(-1)	C. Pujara	Ind	810	50.51	888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
8	( 5)	Dean Elgar	SA	772!	42.38	772 v Aus at Cape Town 2018
9	(-1)	Azhar Ali	Pak	755	46.62	787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
10	(-1)	Hashim Amla	SA	745	48.31	907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

Bowlers (Top 10)

Rank	( /-)	Player	Team	Pts	Avge	Highest Rating
1	( – )	Kagiso Rabada	SA	899	21.56	902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
2	( – )	James Anderson	Eng	887	27.41	896 v Win at Lord’s 2017
3	( – )	Ravindra Jadeja	Ind	844	23.73	899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
4	( – )	R. Ashwin	Ind	803	25.56	904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
5	( – )	Josh Hazlewood	Aus	802	26.00	863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
6	( 5)	Morne Morkel	SA	798!	27.73	798 v Aus at Cape Town 2018
7	( 5)	Trent Boult	NZ	792	27.80	825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
8	(-2)	Neil Wagner	NZ	781	27.82	785 v Win at Wellington 2017
9=	(-2)	Rangana Herath	SL	777	28.18	867 v Zim at Harare 2016
	(-1)	Vernon Philander	SA	777	22.18	912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013