Kusal Perera’s astounding, match-winning innings of 153 not out in the thrilling one-wicket victory over South Africa has propelled him 58 places up the ICC Test Player Rankings, while Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis hits the top 10 for the first time in his career.
Perera has advanced an astonishing 58 places in the rankings after a memorable performance helped his team score a thrilling one-wicket victory over South Africa in Durban.
The left-handed Perera has reached a career-best 40th position after 15 Tests, scoring 51 and an unbeaten 153 that guided his team to an improbable win, partnering in the highest-ever unbroken 10th wicket stand in a winning cause in first-class cricket. He added 78 runs for the last wicket with Vishwa Fernando (six not out) to beat an 83-year record set by the Australians against Madras in February 1936.
For South Africa, captain Faf du Plessis is among the top 10 batsmen for the first time in his career after scores of 35 and 90 helped him gain seven slots to reach joint-10th position along with his counterpart Dimuth Karunaratne.
Quinton de Kock is also on that list, gaining four slots to reach eighth position and closing in on his career-best sixth position that he had occupied two years ago. Fast bowler Duanne Olivier has continued his upward trend to reach a career-best 22nd position after advancing three slots.
Left-arm fast bowler Vishwa Fernando has moved up 26 places to a career-best 49th place after finishing with eight wickets in the match, while Kasun Rajitha (up 10 places to 59th) and Lasith Embuldeniya (at 68th place after his debut match) are the notable gainers in the list for bowlers.
ICC Test Player Rankings (17 February)
Batsmen (top 10)
| Rank | +/- | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | – | Virat Kohli | India | 922 | 53.76 | 937 |
| 2 | – | K. Williamson | NZ | 897 | 51.44 | 915 |
| 3 | – | C. Pujara | India | 881 | 51.18 | 888 |
| 4 | – | Steve Smith | Aus | 857 | 61.37 | 947 |
| 5= | – | Joe Root | Eng | 763 | 49.51 | 917 |
| – | Henry Nicholls | NZ | 763*! | 43.54 | 763 | |
| 7 | – | David Warner | Aus | 756 | 48.20 | 880 |
| 8= | +4 | Q. de Kock | SA | 710 | 39.16 | 802 |
| – | A. Markram | SA | 710* | 44.13 | 759 | |
| 10= | +1 | D. Karunaratne | SL | 688 | 36.37 | 754 |
| +7 | Faf du Plessis | SA | 688 | 42.56 | 734 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | +/- | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 27 | +1 | D. Chandimal | SL | 609 | 41.86 | 755 |
| 40 | +58 | Kusal Perera | SL | 556*! | 35.60 | 556 |
| 57 | +6 | D. de Silva | SL | 501 | 32.80 | 612 |
| 100 | new | O. Fernando | SL | 326*! | 28.00 | 326 |
Bowlers (top 10)
| Rank | +/- | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | +1 | P. Cummins | Aus | 878*! | 22.02 | 878 |
| 2 | +1 | J. Anderson | Eng | 862 | 26.93 | 903 |
| 3 | -2 | K. Rabada | SA | 849 | 21.88 | 902 |
| 4 | – | V. Philander | SA | 821 | 21.64 | 912 |
| 5 | – | R. Jadeja | India | 794 | 23.68 | 899 |
| 6 | – | Trent Boult | NZ | 771 | 27.90 | 825 |
| 7= | – | Jason Holder | Win | 770* | 27.69 | 778 |
| – | M. Abbas | Pak | 770* | 18.86 | 838 | |
| 9 | – | Tim Southee | NZ | 767 | 29.93 | 799 |
| 10 | – | R. Ashwin | India | 763 | 25.43 | 904 |
Other selected rankings
All-rounders (top five)
| Rank | +/- | Player | Team | Pts | Highest Rating |
| 1 | – | Jason Holder | Win | 439/* | 448 |
| 2 | – | S. Al Hasan | Ban | 415 | 489 |
| 3 | – | R. Jadeja | India | 387 | 438 |
| 4 | – | Ben Stokes | Eng | 357 | 395 |
| 5 | – | V. Philander | SA | 332 | 377 |
*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
!indicates career-highest rating
Source: ICC
Photo: Steve Haag/Getty Images
