Moeen Ali achieves career-high rankings after Lord's heroics
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.
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.
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
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