South Africa vs Australia – Jansen and Bavuma scale the Test rankings heights

Simon Lewis

Editor

Last updated: 2 hours ago

Simon Lewis 2 hours ago

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Proteas all-rounder Marco Jansen has moved to the top of the ICC Test bowling rankings.
Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma is now ranked the second best Test batter.
South Africa beat Australia 2-1 in their recently completed series.

Marco Jansen has risen to the top of the ICC Test bowling rankings (Getty Images).

Marco Jansen ranked top Test bowler and all-rounder

Marco Jansen ranked top Test bowler and all-rounder
ICC Men's Test bowling rankings
Bavuma rises to second in the batting rankings
ICC Men's Test batting rankings
Rabada reaches historic milestone
South Africa - Most Test Wickets
Bavuma continues to shine with the bat
South Africa - Most Test Runs

Proteas all-rounder Marco Jansen was named Player of the Series after South Africa completed their 2-1 series win at Newlands. Jansen scored 198 runs and picked up 13 wickets in the three-Test series.

In the 1st Test defeat he scored 26 and 35, adding 3/68 and 1/45 with the ball as South Africa lost the opener at Kingsmead. Jansen played an even bigger role in the 2nd Test at Gqeberha as the Proteas fought back to level the series.

With the Proteas reeling at 110/6 Jansen partnered with Temba Bavuma for a match-winning seventh wicket partnership of 132, the all-rounder slamming 85 off 100 balls with nine fours and three sixes. He also picked up 5/33 in Australia's first innings to rock the visitors and set up the innings-and-31-run win.

In the 3rd Test Jansen smacked 52 off 71 balls in the Proteas' first innings and took 3/60 as Australia took their first bat of the match.

Jansen's performances in the series saw him climb five positions to become the world's No. 1 Test bowler with 876 points. He also took over the top position in the Test all-rounder rankings.

ICC Men's Test bowling rankings

Rank	Bowler	Country	Rating
1	Marco Jansen	South Africa	876
2=	Mitchell Starc	Australia	861
2=	Matt Henry	New Zealand	861
4	Ollie Robinson	England	856
5	Jasprit Bumrah	India	853
6	Scott Boland	Australia	829
7	Pat Cummins	Australia	817
8	Kagiso Rabada	South Africa	808
9	Josh Hazlewood	Australia	805
13	Nathan Lyon	Australia	717
16	Simon Harmer	South Africa	691
26	Keshav Maharaj	South Africa	642

Bavuma rises to second in the batting rankings

South African Test captain Temba Bavuma has climbed to a career-best second place in the ICC Test batting rankings, while Kagiso Rabada has joined an exclusive group of South Africa's greatest wicket-takers.

The latest ICC player rankings, released on October 28, underline the Proteas' growing strength following their remarkable comeback against Australia.

Bavuma moved up four places to second in the world after his magnificent 179 in the second Test at Gqeberha. After scoring 30 and 103 in the first two ODIs against Australia he was rested for the 3rd ODI, with the series win secured.

He scored just 3 and 1 in the 1st Test defeat but followed that up with a magnificent 179 to lead a brave fightback to level the series at 1-1 at Gqeberha. In the first innings of the deciding 3rd Test at Newlands he fell for a three-ball duck to a peach of a delivery from Lyon after the Proteas had made a great start to the Test.

Facing a big first-innings deficit, Bavuma dug in for a 115-ball score of 35 to steady the Proteas innings, setting a platform for the superb centuries from Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder that truly set up the series win.

With 818 rating points, the South African captain trails England's Harry Brook (861) in the rankings, while Joe Root sits third on 816.

ICC Men's Test batting rankings

Rank	Batter	Country	Rating
1	Harry Brook	England	861
2	Temba Bavuma	South Africa	818
3	Joe Root	England	816
4	Travis Head	Australia	813
5	Steve Smith	Australia	798
12	Aiden Markram	South Africa	693
21	Alex Carey	Australia	650
22	Cameron Green	Australia	639
24	Wiaan Mulder	South Africa	631

Rabada reaches historic milestone

Rabada occupies eighth place in the bowling rankings with 808 points, but his achievements at Newlands on Saturday added another landmark to his career.

Rabada's 3/39 in Australia's second innings took him to 350 Test wickets, becoming only the fourth South African to reach the milestone. He achieved the feat off just 13,808 deliveries - faster than any other bowler in Test cricket history.

Only Dale Steyn (439), Shaun Pollock (421) and Makhaya Ntini (390) have taken more Test wickets for South Africa.

South Africa - Most Test Wickets

Rank	Bowler	Tests	Wickets
1	Dale Steyn	93	439
2	Shaun Pollock	108	421
3	Makhaya Ntini	101	390
4	Kagiso Rabada	75	350
5	Allan Donald	72	330
6	Morne Morkel	86	309
7	Jacques Kallis	165	291
8	Vernon Philander	64	224
9	Keshav Maharaj	63	220
10	Hugh Tayfield	37	170

Bavuma continues to shine with the bat

Bavuma also passed 4,000 career Test runs during the Cape Town match, moving to 4,028 and 11th place on South Africa's all-time run-scoring list. The milestones accompanied South Africa's 176-run victory over Australia in the third Test, securing a 2-1 series triumph after losing the opening match in Durban.

South Africa - Most Test Runs

Rank	Batter	Tests	Runs
1	Jacques Kallis	165	13,206
2	Hashim Amla	124	9,282
3	Graeme Smith	116	9,253
4	AB de Villiers	114	8,765
5	Gary Kirsten	101	7,289
6	Herschelle Gibbs	90	6,167
7	Mark Boucher	146	5,498
8	Dean Elgar	86	5,347
9	Daryll Cullinan	70	4,554
10	Faf du Plessis	69	4,163
11	Temba Bavuma	70	4,028

With the Proteas now leading the ICC Test team rankings, the latest achievements highlight a remarkable period for South African cricket.

Simon is a talented sports writer in South Africa with a strong focus on cricket having played first-team level for UCT, including playing at two Universities Weeks.

From a young age Simon was an avid reader of cricket magazines and books, and went on to be Editor of The Googly, CricketScene SA and SA Cricket, in addition to being a Features Writer on SA Sports Illustrated.

He has interviewed most of South Africa's premier cricketers and was the first writer to interview a teenaged Jacques Kallis.

Simon has also written about English and local football, rugby and cricket, in addition to major international tennis and golf stars and competitions.

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