Published: Jun 21, 2023, 03:34 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 21, 2023, 03:34 PM (IST)
New Delhi: England star player Joe Root has gained the number 1 spot in the ICC Test ranking for batters after displacing Marnus Labuschagne. England did lose the 1st Ashes Test against Australia by 2 wickets at Edgbaston, Birmingham but Root’s performance with both bat and ball.
Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, and Travis Head gained the top three spots in ICC Rankings after their win in the World Test Championship against India. However, all three of them took a fall in the rankings after their victory in the 1st Ashes Test.
Joe Root is the new number 1 Test batter followed by Kane Williamson on second. Labuschagne is in the third spot, Head in fourth, Babar in fifth, Smith in Sixth, and the hero of 1st Ashes Usman Khawaja in the 7th spot.
A superb rearguard innings of 44 not out by skipper Pat Cummins and his crucial 55-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Nathan Lyon (16 not out) helped Australia scamper to a two-wicket victory over England in the nail-biting first Ashes Test of the 2023 series at the Edgbaston here on Tuesday.
Chasing a fourth innings target of 218 to win the match, Australia, who ended Day Four at 107/3, were in trouble after losing Alex Carey for 20 with the score 227/8.
The first game of the new ICC World Test Championship cycle ended in dramatic fashion, with Cummins playing a captain’s knock to steer his side to a famous victory in the Birmingham twilight.
Despite losing the first session of the day because of rain, England, who declared their first innings at 393/8 and bowled out for 272 in their second, were sniffing their chances as they only needed two wickets with Australia needing 54 runs.
However, Cummins and Lyon shared an unfinished 55-run partnership for the ninth wicket as they gave Australia the winning start in their attempt to wrest back the Urn in England after many years.
(with IANS inputs)
