ICC Test rankings: Mitchell Starc, Aiden Markram top gainers after Durban Test

Australian speedster Mitchell Starc reached a career-best position of five in the latest ICC Test rankings released after the end of the first Test between South Africa and Australia at Durban. The visitors won the game by 118 runs, taking a 1-0 lead over the Proteas in the four-match series.

Starc completed the game with a tally of 9-109, which helped him gain five spots to reach the fifth place, replacing India's Ravichandran Ashwin, who slipped one position to reach the sixth slot. Vernon Philander, Neil Wagner, Ranagana Herath and Morne Morkel all shifted a place each to occupy the last four rungs of the top-10.

In the batting rankings, the top four, consisting of Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Joe Root and Kane Williamson, along with David Warner and Cheteshwar Pujara, stayed put, while Azhar Ali, Alastair Cook and Ross Taylor, all achieved a one slot gain. Hashim Amla stumbled down by three places, while Mitchell Marsh gained 13 slots to reach the 43rd spot, his best ranking as a batsman.

Former U-19 captain Aiden Markram, who scored 32 and 143 in the game, jumped 28 places to reach a career-best position of 19, and has broken into the top-20 of the batting rankings in only his seventh Test. AB de Villiers, who scored 71 in the first innings, crawled one spot to reach the 12th position, while Quinton de Kock, who recently recovered from an injury, moved three places to reach 22.

Batting rankings

#1 Steve Smith

#2 Virat Kohli

#3 Joe Root

#4 Kane Williamson

#5 David Warner

#6 Cheteshwar Pujara

#7 Alastair Cook

#8 Azhar Ali

#9 Ross Taylor

#10 Hashim Amla

Bowling rankings

#1 James Anderson

#2 Kagiso Rabada

#3 Ravindra Jadeja

#4 Josh Hazlewood

#5 Mitchell Starc

#6 R. Ashwin

#7 Vernon Philander

#8 Neil Wagner

#9 Rangana Herath

#10 Morne Morkel

All-rounders

#1 Shakib Al Hasan

#2 R Jadeja

#3 R Ashwin

#4 Ben Stokes

#5 Mitchell Starc