Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The Proteas confirmed themselves as the No 1 team on the ICC rankings when they beat the West Indies by eight wickets with two sessions to spare in the final Test at Newlands on Tuesday.
It meant that they won the three-match series 2-0 and also retained the Sir Viv Richards Trophy for competition between the two countries. They will also now top the rankings at the cut-off point in April as Test cricket takes a break while the ICC World Cup takes place in Australasia.
Their top ranking earns them a bonus of $500 000 (R5.8m).
Needing only a further 115 runs for victory with nine wickets in hand the Proteas were put under early pressure by Sulieman Benn who gained both turn and bounce from the fifth day surface. There was also tight bowling at the other end from Jerome Taylor and it took Dean Elgar and Faf du Plessis the best part of the opening half hour to get the scoreboard moving.
Du Plessis did not last long, becoming Benn’s second victim on his way to innings figures of 2/24 in 17 overs. However, Elgar (60 not out, 103 balls, 7 fours and a six) and Hashim Amla (38 not out, 49 balls, 6 fours) then finished the job with an unbroken partnership of 73.
AB de Villiers was named man-of-the-match for his first innings century while Amla, who scored a double century in the victory at SuperSport Park, was named man-of-the-series.
