CAPE TOWN – A day after he was suspended for two Test matches, Kagiso Rabada had some reason to smile on Tuesday after he moved back to the top of the ICC Test bowling rankings.
This follows his stellar performance during the Proteas’ victorious second Test against Australia at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth, which South Africa won by six wickets.
Rabada produced match figures of 11/150 – the fifth time he has taken a 10-wicket haul in a game – to help set up the win for the Proteas to level the series 1-1 with two Tests to go.
Unfortunately Rabada won’t be playing any further part in the series, unless Cricket South Africa successfully appeal the two-match suspension, which came about after he received four demerit points – three for making “physical contact” with Steve Smith’s shoulder, and one for screaming at David Warner after dismissing him on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Rabada has reached a career-high 902 points on the ICC rankings – the fourth South African to do so after Vernon Philander (912), Shaun Pollock (909) and Dale Steyn (909) – as he went past England swing bowler Jimmy Anderson on Tuesday.
On the batting front, AB de Villiers’ majestic 126 not out in PE sees him shift up to seventh on the ICC Test batting rankings, while Hashim Amla’s first-innings half-century grants him one higher spot at ninth.
Australian captain Steve Smith still tops the ICC Test batting list.
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