Kraigg Brathwaite and Kemar Roach rise in the Test ranking after Windies' win over Bangladesh

Opener Kraigg Brathwaite and fast bowler Kemar Roach have made strides in the ICC Test Player Rankings after helping the West Indies defeat Bangladesh by an innings and 219 runs in Antigua to go 1-0 up in the two-Test series.  Brathwaite’s courageous knock of 121 off 291 deliveries has seen him move up five places to reach joint-16th position while Roach has advanced four places to 20th position with a remarkable haul of five for eight, which played a big role in skittling Bangladesh out for 43 in the first innings, their lowest-ever Test total. During his spell, Roach became only the third player in the history of the game to claim five scalps in the space of 12 deliveries in Tests.

Captain Jason Holder (up two places to 52nd) and Kieran Powell (up five places to 61st) are the other Windies players to move up the rankings for batsmen. Holder has also gained two slots to reach a career-best 23rd place among bowlers and Miguel Cummins has gained 12 slots to finish the Test in 55th position. For Bangladesh, spinner Mehedi Hasan has gained one slot to reach 37th position among bowlers.

Eighth-ranked Bangladesh now need to win the second Test in Kingston to remain ahead of the Windies in the ICC Test Team Rankings. Starting the series on 75 points, three ahead of the opposition, Bangladesh will retain the gap with a drawn series but even a 1-0 series loss will see the Windies move ahead of the Asian side.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka take on South Africa in an upcoming two-Test series with important team ranking points at stake, even though the final result will not impact the positions on the points table.

If sixth-ranked Sri Lanka are able to pull off a 2-0 victory over second-ranked South Africa, they will go up to 97 points but remain behind England on decimal points. In such a scenario, South Africa will lose six points but remain ahead of third-placed Australia on decimal points. On the other hand, a 2-0 series win for South Africa will help them gain three points but they will still remain 10 points adrift of top-ranked India.

Series scenarios:

South Africa win 2-0 – South Africa 115 points, Sri Lanka 89 points

South Africa win 1-0 – South Africa 113, Sri Lanka 90

Drawn series – South Africa 110, Sri Lanka 93

Sri Lanka win 1-0 – South Africa 107, Sri Lanka 95

Sri Lanka win 2-0 – South Africa 106, Sri Lanka 97

In the player rankings, South Africa boast three batsmen in the top 10 – Dean Elgar (seventh), Aiden Markram (eighth) and Hashim Amla (10th). Kagiso Rabada is the top-ranked bowler in the format while his fellow fast bowler Vernon Philander is in the fourth position.

For Sri Lanka, Dinesh Chandimal will be looking to improve his ninth position, while left-arm spinner Rangana Herath (joint-11th) and Suranga Lakmal (28th) are their leading bowlers.

Series schedule: 

12-16 July – 1st Test, Galle

20-24 July – 2nd Test, Colombo

ICC Test team rankings

ICC Test batsmen rankings (top 10)

Other select rankings

ICC Test bowler rankings

Other select rankings

ICC Test all-rounder rankings

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