Wednesday, 18 January 2017

Kagiso Rabada bowls Dale Steyn over #ProteaFire

It keeps getting even better for Protea fast bowler Kagiso Rabada after his recent heroics from the recently concluded Test matches in Johannesburg and Wellington were rewarded with impressive movements in the latest ICC player rankings for Test bowlers which were released on Tuesday morning.

Rabada, who was one of South Africa's stars in their ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2014 triumph, stole the bowling limelight when he returned figures of 3-44 and 2-50. For this performance, he has earned a rise of three places which has puts him in fifth position in the ICC player rankings for Test bowlers.

Rabada is now South Africa's highest-ranked bowler, one place ahead of Dale Steyn who missed the series due to an injury. Rabada leads Steyn by two points and trails Sri Lanka's fourth-ranked spinner Rangana Herath by six points.

South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 118 runs in Johannesburg, which gave them a 3-0 series win. The result means third-ranked South Africa have gained four points and have moved up to 107 points, two behind Australia, while seventh-ranked Sri Lanka have dropped four points to finish on 92 points.

The Wellington Test produced some exceptional batting performances from both the sides and these have been duly recognised in the latest Test player rankings.