Ponting increases lead at No. 1
Ricky Ponting has pulled further ahead at the top of the Test batting rankings
| |
|
Ponting finished the Test with 937 points and that mark has been bettered by only seven players in the history of the game. He now has a place among some illustrious company with Donald Bradman topping the list of all-time highest-rated players - and Matthew Hayden - who also made a century at Durban - also featuring.
Ponting's challenge is now to maintain the level he has reached and that begins in the third Test at Johannesburg on Friday. Australia have already wrapped up the series but now have the incentive of a clean-sweep to aim for. That would lift the team's rating to 131 points (and drop South Africa to 98), 18 clear of nearest rivals England in the Test Championship.
Ponting's innings of 103 and 116 made him the first Australia batsman to score two hundreds in a Test on three separate occasions. It is the second time he has achieved the feat against South Africa after also doing so in Sydney in January. Despite Hayden's 102 at Kingsmead, Ponting has moved 60 points clear of his team-mate at the top of the rankings.
The other notable move by an Australian is Mike Hussey's arrival in the top 20, an impressive performance considering he only made his Test debut towards the end of 2005.
In the bowling list, Shane Warne's eight wickets in Durban have shifted him back up one place ahead of Glenn McGrath and he now lies second behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, currently in action against Pakistan in Colombo.
Brett Lee also features in the bowling top 20, in 16th slot, up one place and now with more than 200 Test wickets under his belt. Michael Kasprowicz is 31st and Stuart Clark, with 13 wickets in his first two Tests, has already risen to 40th place.
For the full rankings click here
Read in App
Elevate your reading experience on ESPNcricinfo App.