JOHANNESBURG: Morne Morkel has catapulted to sixth on the ICC Test bowlers ranking after his nine-wicket match haul demolished Australia at Newlands. He moved to 798 rating points, his highest tally ever.
With Morkel set to end his 12-year international career after the Johannesburg Test next week, this means the 33-year-old may well finish his Test career as one of the world’s ten best bowlers.
Another bowler who soared into the top-10 was Trent Boult, whose nine wickets helped him jump five places into seventh. Boult took 6 for 32 – his career-best figures – in the first innings in Auckland to bowl England out for 58, and finished with a match-haul of 9 for 99.
The big mover among the batsmen was Morkel’s team-mate Dean Elgar. He also climbed five spots to move to eighth. Elgar made 141 in the first-innings at Newlands and carried his bat through South Africa’s innings, a feat he has now achieved three times. Kane Williamson’s record-breaking hundred against England moved him to third, swapping places with Joe Root, who dropped one place to fourth.
