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Cape Town - Aiden Markram's heroics in the first Test against Australia in Durban have seen him break into the top 20 of the ICC Test rankings for the first time in his career.
It has taken the 23-year-old just seven Tests to get there.
Markram's scores of 32 and 143 in Durban helped him gain 28 slots to reach 19th place.
In other South African movements, AB de Villiers’ first innings score of 71* was enough to move him up one place to 12th position while Quinton de Kock has gained three slots to reach 22nd after scores of 20 and 83 in the match.
In the rankings for bowlers, Keshav Maharaj’s haul of nine wickets in the match has helped him rise to 18th.
Meanwhile, Australia pace bowler Mitchell Starc has reached a career-best fifth position after his man-of-the-match performance in Durban.
The 28-year-old Starc finished with a match haul of 9-109, enabling him to overtake South Africa’s new-ball bowlers Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander among others, eclipsing his previous best sixth position that he enjoyed in December 2016.
Furthermore, the left-hander’s 42 runs in the Test have not only helped him gain three slots to reach 74th among batsmen, but have also helped him make it to the top-five among all-rounders.
He is now on 312 points, 35 less than his tally when he was fourth on the all-rounders’ list in August 2016.
ICC Test rankings:
Batsmen
1. Steve Smith (Aus) - 947
2. Virat Kohli (Ind) - 912
3. Joe Root (Eng) - 881
4. Kane Williamson (NZ) - 855
5. David Warner (Aus) - 833
6. C. Pujara (Ind) - 810
7. Azhar Ali (Pak) - 755
8. Alastair Cook (Eng) - 742
9. Ross Taylor (NZ) - 739
10. Hashim Amla (SA) - 734
Bowlers
1. James Anderson (Eng) - 887
2. Kagiso Rabada (SA) - 873
3. Ravindra Jadeja (Ind) - 844
4. Josh Hazlewood (Aus) - 812
5. Mitchell Starc (Aus) - 805
6. R. Ashwin (Ind) - 904
7. Vernon Philander (SA) - 786
8. Neil Wagner (NZ) - 784
9. Rangana Herath (SL) - 777
T10. Morne Morkel (SA) - 755
T10. Nathan Lyon (Aus) - 755
All-rounders
1. Shakib Al Hasan
(Ban) 421
2. Ravindra Jadeja (Ind) 391
3. R.
Ashwin (Ind) 368
4. Ben Stokes (Eng) 358
5. Mitchell Starc (Aus) 312
