South Africa: National Cricket team of SA ‘Proteas’ ranked first on the ICC World Test Championship Table, beating Sri Lanka in second test by 109 runs.
SA Proteas moved past Australia and claimed the top spot after playing the second cricket test at St. George’s Park and swept the series 2-0 on Monday.
Surprisingly, this time the odds favoured South African Proteas who needed five more wickets to win. While Sri Lanka needed 143 runs in a chase of 348, as the last recognised batters were in the middle of match.
The Proteas team ended fightbacks from captain Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis in the first half hour of the innings. There they exposed the tail and finished off Sri Lanka for 238 runs before the break.
Spinner Keshav Maharaj stunned everyone by grabbing three of the five wickets and achieved his 11th five-wicket haul of the career.
South African Proteas also consolidated its hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship final by moving to the top of the standings with two more home tests to come against Pakistan beginning on Dec 26, 2024.
However, India has suffered its tenth reverse in the 2023-25 cycle against team Australia in Adelaide on Sunday. It also saw its PCT fall to 57.29, dropping it down to third place.
As per the ICC World Test Championships 2023-25 Points Table, South Africa is on top, followed by Australia, India on third, then Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand, Pakistan on seventh, then Bangladesh and West Indies on nineth.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said that the ICC Test was a proper test for a lot of the guys in the team. It is very unusual that they get to play for all five days and it is rare that the game swings both sides.
Bavuma gives all credit to Sri Lanka for the way they took their business. They asked the right questions which made them work hard for the win.
“The World Test Championship table looks good as we still have two games to go. I don’t know what the match looks like but we want to continue what we are doing and enjoy the victory,” said Captain Bavuma.