Williamson jumps to No.2 in batting charts

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has leapt to second spot in the International Cricket Council’s Test batting rankings after his team’s drawn first Test against South Africa in Dunedin.

Williamson, who scored his 16th Test century in the series opener against the Proteas, has overtaken both his England and India counterparts to sit second behind Australia skipper Steve Smith in the batting charts.

His 130 saw him climb to 869 points, still 67 points behind world No.1 batsman Smith but 21 points clear of third-placed Joe Root.

It means India captain Virat Kohli slides down to fourth position on the list, having already dropped to third at the end of the second Test against Australia thanks to a lean start to the four-match series.

But the news is better for India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, who has reclaimed the No.1 allrounder ranking after Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan dropped 38 points after failing to make a significant impact with either bat or ball in his team’s 259-run defeat to Sri Lanka in Galle.

South Africa opener Dean Elgar was rewarded for his 130 and 89 in Dunedin with a jump 10 spots to a career-best 11th in the batting rankings, but the news was not as good for Hashim Amla, who dropped two places to ninth after being dismissed for one and 24, while Quinton de Kock dropped out of the top 10 after knocks of 4 and 10.

Proteas captain Faf de Plessis’s two half-centuries saw him rise two spots to 19th.

The top 10 of the ICC’s bowling rankings have remained unchanged.

ICC TEST BATTING RANKINGS

1) Steve Smith (Aus) - 936 points

2) Kane Williamson (NZ) - 869 

3) Joe Root (Eng) - 848

4) Virat Kohli (Ind) - 847

5) David Warner (Aus) - 794

6) Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind) - 793

7) Azhar Ali (Pak) - 779

8) Younis Khan (Pak) - 772

9) Hashim Amla (SA) - 757

10) AB de Villiers - 747

ICC TEST BOWLING RANKINGS

=1) Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind) - 892 points

=1) Ravindra Jadeja (Ind) - 892

3) Josh Hazlewood (Aus) - 863

4) Rangana Herath (SL) - 827

5) Kagiso Rabada (SA) - 821

6) Dale Steyn (SA) - 819

7) Jimmy Anderson (Eng) - 810

8) Stuart Broad (Eng) - 803

9) Vernon Philander (SA) - 798

=10) Mitchell Starc (Aus) - 757

=10) Neil Wagner (NZ) - 757