Rangana Herath, Kusal Mendis take giant strides in ICC Test rankings

Herath, Kusal Mendis take giant strides in ICC Test rankings

After their 106-run win over Australia in the first Test at Pallekele, Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath moves into the top 10 at 9 in ICC bowlers ranking. Herath finished with figures 4 for 49 and 5 for 54 against Australia. Kusal Mendis, who scored crucial 176 in the second innings moves to 21 in the ICC ranking for Test batsmen. There was some good news for Ross Taylor, who scored an unbeaten 173 in the first Test against Zimbabwe, helping New Zealand win by an innings and 117 runs. He moved up three places to 12th in the ICC ranking. Players like Tom Latham, Neil Wagner and Sean Williams too made significant strides in the rankings.  FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Sri Lanka vs Australia, 1st Test at Pallekele

After failing to make much of an impact, Australian trio of David Warner, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja have slipped up in the rankings and will look to cover lost ground in the remaining matches.

However, it is Steven Smith, who is currently on top of the ICC batsmen ranking. Smith scored fifty against Sri Lanka in the second innings. He has a healthy 20-point lead over the No. 2 batsman Joe Root, who scored career-best 254 against Pakistan in the second Test at Old Trafford. As far as the bowlers are concerned, it is India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, who is currently on top followed by England’s James Anderson and Stuart Broad at No. 2 and 3.

It is Ashwin again who leads the all-rounders list, followed by Bangladesh’s Shakib-al-Hasan. Broad and South Africa’s Vernon Philander are tied at the No. 3 spot.