Anderson edges closer to Rabada in ICC rankings

Cape Town - England paceman James Anderson's performance against Pakistan in Headingley has seen the Englishman edge closer to world No 1 Kagiso Rabada in the ICC Test bowler rankings.

It was the turn of England's pacemen to make progress on the ICC Test player rankings, putting up a fine show that helped score an innings and 55-runs victory over Pakistan in the second Test at Headingley to finish the two-match series at 1-1.

Anderson's five wickets have helped him gain three points to reach within five points of top-ranked Rabada (897 points).

Stuart Broad's figures of three for 38 and three for 28 have helped him gain two spots and move to 12th place, the position on which he had started the series while Chris Woakes has gained one spot to reach 34th place after taking four wickets in the match.

Among their batsmen, Jos Buttler is the biggest gainer, as his player of the match effort of 80 not out has lifted him 19 places to 63rd position.

Opener Alastair Cook (up one place to 13th), Dawid Malan (up one place to 60th) and Dominic Bess (up 23 places to 92) are the others to gain.

For Pakistan, Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Amir have retained their 20th and 32nd places respectively, while leg-spinning all-rounder Shadab Khan has moved up three places to 93rd among bowlers and 22 places to 108th among batsmen.

Seam bowler Faheem Ashraf (up 18 places to 98th) and middle-order batsman Haris Sohail (up two places to 77th) are the other gainers in the latest rankings.

Seventh-ranked Pakistan could have swapped places with fifth-ranked England had they managed to win the second Test but the result means there are no change of places on the ICC Test team rankings with England losing one point and Pakistan gaining one.

In a series starting on Wednesday, the Windies play three Tests against Sri Lanka at home, with a chance to improve their position in the team rankings.

A 2-0 or verdict could help ninth-placed Windies overtake Bangladesh while pulling Sri Lanka down from sixth to seventh position.

ICC Test rankings:

Batsmen

1. Steve Smith (Aus) - 929

2. Virat Kohli (Ind) - 912

3. Joe Root (Eng) - 855

4. Kane Williamson (NZ) - 847

5. David Warner (Aus) - 820

6. Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind) - 810

7. Dean Elgar (SA) - 784

8. Aiden Markram (SA) - 759

9. Hashim Amla (SA) - 726