South African bowler Dale Steyn has reportedly returned to the No.1 position on the ICC rankings for Test bowlers following Australia’s 281-run victory over South Africa in the first of the three-Test series.
Steyn, who registered figures of 4-78 and 2-61 in Centurion last weekend, replaced compatriot Vernon Philander, who became the No 1-ranked bowler on December 22 last year, at the top.
According to Sport24, Philander picked up one wicket in the Test to drop 11 ratings points and finish on 898, three points behind Steyn, who retained his pre-series points total.
The report mentioned that Steyn first reached the No 1 position on April 3, 2008 when he drew level with Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan for one week and regained the top spot in July 2009 when he overtook Muralitharan.
Steyn spent 187 matches or 1 630 days as the top-ranked bowler, the second-most number of matches at the top to date after Muralitharan and his run was ended when Philander overtook him in December 2013.
