The towering quick, Morne Morkel finished his international career at Number six in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings for bowlers with a career-best 800 rating points.
Meanwhile, Morkel bid adieu after South Africa created history by winning a home series 3-1 against Australia since readmission.
The tall and lanky pacer finished his career on a high after a splendid performance in the series.
Moreover, Morne Morkel bagged the Man of the Match award in the third Test with a nine-wicket haul with a total of 15 wickets.
However, South Africa hogged three spots in the latest ranking with Kagiso Rabada still No. one, Vernon Philander shooting up to No. three, and Morkel at No. 6.
However, Trent Boult, the man of the series in the New Zealand and England series slipped one spot.
Although Keshav Maharaj (17) and Nathan Lyon (16) did well but it was the pacers who dominated.
Rabada slipped in terms of points – 902 after the Port Elizabeth Test to 897 but held on to the spot. He picked up 23 wickets, which was the best across the two teams. Moreover, his 11-wicket haul in the second Test was the highlight of his series.
Philander, meanwhile, saved his best for the last. He started the day’s play with 0/9 from five overs and ended with 6 for 21 from 13 – to send Australia hurtling to a 492-run defeat.
Along the way, he brought 200 Test wickets and up to six spots to No.3 with 845 points. England’s James Anderson separates Rabada and Philander, who claimed eight wickets from two Test in New Zealand.
Philander’s contributions with the bat, 155 runs in seven innings also helped him move past Ravichandran Ashwin and Ben Stokes to No.3 in the all-rounders’ list.
Morkel reached his career high of 798 points and bettered that by getting to 800 points at the end of Johannesburg Test. He was joined by Australia’s Pat Cummins after a nine-wicket haul in the last Test.
Across in New Zealand too, the pacers picked up 58 wickets as compared to seven by the spinners. Boult topped the wicket-takers list with 15 scalps. Despite a series-winning effort, he slipped one places to be at No. 8 spot.
The top 10 is completed by Ravindra Jadeja (No.4), Ashwin (No.5), Rangana Herath (No.9) and Neil Wagner (No.10).
Here is the list:
|
RANKING |
PLAYER |
COUNTRY |
POINTS |
| 1 | Kagiso Rabada | South Africa | 897 |
| 2 | James Anderson | England | 891 |
| 3 | Vernon Philander | South Africa | 845 |
| 4 | Ravindra Jadeja | India | 844 |
| 5 | Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 803 |
| 6 | Pat Cummins | Australia | 800 |
| 7 | Morne Morkel | South Africa | 800 |
| 8 | Trent Boult | New Zealand | 795 |
| 9 | Ranagana Herath | Sri Lanka | 777 |
| 10 | Neil Wagner | New Zealand | 765 |
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