DUBAI: South Africa’s left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj overtook Indian pace bowler Mohammed Siraj to claim the top spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s ODI Bowling Rankings.
Maharaj is the fourth bowler to claim the coveted top spot in the ICC Men’s ODI Bowling Rankings during the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, exhibiting the fierce competition between the bowlers which has made it difficult to hold on to the position.
Keshav Maharaj was placed at second position in last week’s ICC Men’s ODI Bowling Rankings, he then picked up seven wickets in three games, extending his wickets tally to 14 during ICC World Cup 2023.
He is averaging 24.71 in the tournament with a good economy rate of 4.37.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj is only three rating points behind Keshav Maharaj, having picked six wickets in the last three games for India.
Siraj has picked up a total of 12 wickets in 10 games during the ICC World Cup 2023 at 28.83.
India’s top-order batter Shubman Gill is sitting comfortably at the top of ICC Men’s ODI Batting Rankings, followed by Babar Azam, who held on to the position for two years before being dethroned last week.
South Africa’s Quinton de Kock swapped places with Virat Kohli to claim the third spot, followed by Kohli and Indian captain Rohit Sharma at the fourth and fifth positions respectively.
Indian batters Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul also made substantial gains after scoring centuries against the Netherlands last week, with the former jumping five spots to equal 13th alongside Pakistan’s opening batter Fakhar Zaman while KL Rahul jumped to 17th from 24th.
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GQEBERHA: South African Keshav Maharaj all-rounder shone with his brilliant all-round performance taking nine wickets and a magnificent 84-runs knock in the first innings to power his side beat Bangladesh by 332 runs in the second Test, here on Monday.
The home side South Africa have beaten Bangladesh by a massive margin of 332 runs in the second Test and whitewashed the touring side 2-0 following the all-round brilliance from Maharaj.
On the fourth day of the second Test, Bangladesh resumed their innings at 27/3 while chasing 413 could only add 53 runs before getting bowled out. The wicket-keeper batter Litton Das resisted a bit with his 27, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored 20. The rest of the batters, on the other hand, could not contribute in the run chase.
South African opener Maharaj wreaked havoc over the Bangladesh batting line-up; taking seven wickets, while Simon Harmer bagged three.
In the first innings, the Proteas posted a massive total of 453, thanks to the fifties from Maharaj, Dean Elgar, Keegan Petersen, and Temba Bavuma before the bowlers displayed a combined effort to bowl out the Tigers on 217 despite the fifty from Mushfiqur Rahim and handed a massive lead of 236 to their side.
South Africa then declared their second innings on 176/7; setting a mammoth target of 413 for the touring side. The opener Sarel Erwee top-scored with 41, while the wicket-keeper batter Kyle Verreynne chipped in with an unbeaten 39.
For his consistent performance, Maharaj was adjudged as the player of the series; taking 16 wickets and scoring 108 runs with the bat.
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