March 13 (CRICKETMORE) - New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has gained two spots to reach second rank in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen released today after the first Test against South Africa in Dunedin which ended in a draw on Sunday.
The latest rankings, which also take into account performances in the first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Galle, which the home side won by 259 runs on Saturday, sees Williamson leapfrog Joe Root and Virat Kohli after his fine knock of 130.
Williamson, who was number-one ranked for a brief while in November-December 2015, is now on 869 points, 21 points ahead of third-placed Root but a good 67 points adrift of table leader Steve Smith of Australia, who is on 936 points.
Also Check BCCI Award 2017
South Africa’s Dean Elgar is another batsman to make significant gains after his innings of 140 and 89. The left-handed opener has gained 10 spots to reach a career-best 11th rank and is now just seven points behind team-mate AB de Villiers. South Africa captain Faf de Plessis’s two half-centuries have seen him gain two spots to reach 19th position.
Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Mendis’s scores of 194 and 19, which earned him the player of the match award in Galle, have also helped him gain 16 places to reach 23rd rank while his team-mate Upul Tharanga’s first century on home soil has enabled him to move up nine slots to 44th rank.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has moved up six places to 29th rank after scores of 85 and 34 while Soumya Sarkar’s two half-centuries in Galle have taken him up 25 places to 55th rank. Check Top 10 Batsmen:
Batsmen (top 10 as on 13th March 2017)
