England vs South Africa 2017, 1st Test at Lord’s: Moeen Ali achieves career-best rankings

Moeen Ali has received a rankings boost in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings following a player of the match performance in the Lord’s Test in which England defeated South Africa by 211 runs to go 1-0 up in the four-match series. Ali contributed 87 and seven with the bat and bagged four for 59 and six for 53 with the red cherry as England romped to victory with more than a day to spare. For his heroics with both the bat and the ball, Ali has been rewarded with improvements in all three categories, which, in turn, have given him career-best batting, bowling and all-rounder rankings. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: England vs South Africa 2017, 1st Test at Lord’s

In the batting chart, Ali has gained three places and is now just outside the top 20 in 21st place; in the bowling table, he has broken into the top 20 in 19th position by rising nine places; while in the all-rounders list, Ali has moved ahead of team-mate Ben Stokes in fourth position for the first time in his career. The latest gains mean Ali is now England’s fourth highest-ranked batsman, third highest-ranked bowler and best all-rounder. Joe Root, who celebrated his first Test as England captain by stroking 190 in the first innings and then inspiring his side to victory, has another reason to smile as he has jumped ahead of his New Zealand opposite number Kane Williamson in second place.

Root had entered the Lord’s Test trailing Williamson by 32 points, but now leads the New Zealander by eight points. Number-one ranked Steve Smith will be Root’s next target as the Australian captain is sitting on 941 points – 53 points ahead of the Englishman. If Root can continue performing like at Lord’s, he can potentially go top of the table. Joe Root, Moeen Ali get surprise visit from Liverpool’s Adam Lallana during England-South Africa Lord’s Test

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Wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, former captain Alistair Cook and one-down batsman Gary Ballance are the other England batsman to have gained in the latest rankings, while Temba Bavuma and Vernon Philander are the two South Africa batsmen to head in the right direction.

Bairstow is now 10th after rising one place, Cook has moved up two places to claim 11th position and Ballance is 59th after earning three places, while Bavuma is 41st (up by four places) and Philander is 66th (up by eight places).

In the bowling table and apart from Moeen Ali’s improvement, Philander and Morne Morkel have gained one place each to sit 10th and 13th, respectively. The table is headed by India’s Ravindra Jadeja, with Ravichandran Ashwin second and Rangana Herath third.

Shakib Al Hasan is the number-one ranked all-rounder, followed by Jadeja, Ashwin, Ali and Stokes.

The second Test begins at Trent Bridge on Friday, 14 July.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 10 July, after Lord’s Test)

BATSMEN (top 10)

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

1         ( – )         Steve Smith         Aus        941!      61.05    941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

2         (+1)        Joe Root              Eng        888        53.80    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3         (-1)         K. Williamson       NZ          880        51.16    893 v Aus at Perth 2015

4         ( – )         C. Pujara              Ind         846        51.32    861 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

5         ( – )         Virat Kohli            Ind         818        49.41    895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

6         ( – )         Q de Kock            SA          791*      50.07    802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017

7         ( – )         Azhar Ali              Pak        769        46.86    787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

8         ( – )         David Warner       Aus        759        47.42    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

9         (+1)        Lokesh Rahul       Ind         739*!     44.44    739 v Aus at Dharamsala 2017

10        (+1)        Jonny Bairstow    Eng        728        40.91    759 v Ind at Mohali 2016

Selected rankings

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

11        (+2)        Alastair Cook       Eng        726        46.37    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

13        (-4)         Hashim Amla       SA          725        49.03    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

19        ( – )         Dean Elgar           SA          657        38.83    740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017

21        (+3)        Moeen Ali             Eng        651!      35.45    651 v SA at Lord’s 2017

36        ( – )         Ben Stokes          Eng        570        33.77    614 v Ind at Visakhapatnam 2016

40        (-2)         JP Duminy           SA          533        32.85    593 v SL at Johannesburg 2017

41        (+4)        Temba Bavuma   SA          528*      32.03    563 v Aus at Hobart 2016

59        (+3)        Gary Ballance      Eng        464        38.60    702 v WI at Grenada 2015

66        (+8)        Vernon Philander SA          416        25.11    453 v WI at Port Elizabeth 2014

BOWLERS (top 10)

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

1         ( – )         Ravindra Jadeja                 Ind         898        23.12    899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

2         ( – )         Ravichandran Ashwin        Ind         865        25.22    904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

3         ( – )         Rangana Herath                 SL          854       27.87    867 v Zim at Harare 2016

4         ( – )         Josh Hazlewood                 Aus        826        25.39    863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

5         ( – )         James Anderson                Eng        814        28.44    884 v SL at Durham 2016

6         ( – )         Stuart Broad                       Eng        797        28.56    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

7         ( – )         Kagiso Rabada                   SA          793*      24.09    821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017

8         ( – )         Dale Steyn                          SA          787        22.30    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

9         ( – )         Neil Wagner                       NZ          745        28.90    767 v SA at Dunedin 2017

10        (+1)        Vernon Philander               SA          743        22.45    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

Selected rankings

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

13        (+1)        Morne Morkel                     SA          705        29.11    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

19        (+9)        Moeen Ali                           Eng        590!      39.35    590 v SA at Lord’s 2017

22        (-2)         Ben Stokes                         Eng        560*      35.13    589 v Ind at Mohali 2016

38        ( – )         Keshav Maharaj                 SA          437*      28.83    464 v NZ at Wellington 2017

53        (RE)       Mark Wood                         Eng        297*      35.69    369 v Pak at Dubai 2015

ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                                Team     Points   Highest Rating

1         ( – )         Shakib Al Hasan                 Ban        431       443 v NZ at Christchurch 2017

2         ( – )         Ravindra Jadeja                 Ind         422!      422 v Aus at Dharamsala 2017

3         ( – )         Ravichandran Ashwin        Ind         413       493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

4         (+2)        Moeen Ali                           Eng        384!      384 v SA at Lord’s 2017

5         (-1)         Ben Stokes                        Eng        319 /*    351 v Ind at Mohali 2016