After claiming a five-wicket haul against the 'Aussies', Maharaj climbed two spots up, leaving Sri Lanka's Maheesh Theekshana in the second place, followed by Team India's Kuldeep Yadav on the third. Riding on his fifer, South Africa secured a win by 98 runs against the Australians
Keshav Maharaj (Pic: File Pic)
South Africa's star spinner Keshav Maharaj has regained his top spot on the latest ICC Men's ODI bowling rankings. On Tuesday, in the first ODI match against Australia, Maharaj claimed five wickets and became the first South African spinner to complete 300 international wickets.
Meanwhile, swashbuckling batsman Dewald Brevis made big gains in the latest ICC Men's T20I batting rankings.
After registering a five-wicket haul against the 'Aussies', Maharaj climbed two spots, leaving Sri Lanka's Maheesh Theekshana in second place, followed by Team India's Kuldeep Yadav on third.
Riding on his fifer, South Africa secured a win by 98 runs against the Australians.
Maharaj had earlier secured the number one ODI bowler ranking back in November 2023 when he displaced Indian seamer Mohammed Siraj during the most recent edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. Since then, the spinner has maintained a place in the top five spots on the rankings.
There is more joy on the rankings for South Africa, with experienced duo Aiden Markram (up four rungs to 21) and Temba Bavuma (up five spots to 23) both gaining ground on the latest list for ODI batters following half-centuries in the opening game of the ongoing series with Australia.
In the opening game, batting first, South Africa posted a total of 296 runs for the loss of eight wickets. Opening duo Markram and Ryan Rickelton registered the scores of 82 and 33 runs, respectively.
Skipper Bavuma also delivered a knock of 65 runs, which came in 74 balls, and included five boundaries. Meanwhile, Matthew Breetzke scored 57 runs off 56 balls, with the help of seven boundaries and a maximum.
Surprisingly, Travis Head bagged four wickets for Australia, followed by Ben Dwarshuis, who claimed two wickets. Adam Zampa, too, bagged a wicket during the match.
Late, with an aim of chasing the target of 297 runs, Australia was skittled for 198 runs in 40.5 overs. Opening the innings, Head scored 27 runs, along with skipper Mitchell Marsh, who played a knock of 88 runs off 96 balls, with the help of 10 boundaries. Other Australian batsmen struggled to put on a match-winning knock for the side, thanks to Maharaj's fifer. Along with him, Nandre Burger and Lungi Ngidi bagged two wickets each. Prenelan Subrayen also claimed one wicket. With this, the Proteas secured a victory by 98 runs.
(With ANI Inputs)
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