South African fast bowler Morne Morkel has taken over as the number-one ranked bowler from England's Graeme Swann in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI Player Rankings for bowlers.
South African fast bowler Morne Morkel has taken over as the number-one ranked bowler from England's Graeme Swann in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI Player Rankings for bowlers.
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On Sunday, Morkel produced a man of the match performance by taking 4-22 in South Africa's series-leveling 80-run victory over Australia in Port Elizabeth and two days later in Kolkata, Swann, who had entered in the series against India in number-one position, finished a disappointing tour of India when he managed only two wickets at 95.50.
As such, Morkel has moved up four places to the top of the rankings for the first time in his career after gaining 32 ratings points, while Swann has dropped two places to third after conceding 39 ratings points.
Morkel now leads second-ranked New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori by just two ratings points.
This means the South African fast bowler will have to produce a solid performance in Friday's ODI against Australia in Durban if he wants to hold on to the number-one spot.
Should he fail to put in another stellar performance, the 27-year-old may drop to as low as fourth as only 13 ratings points separate the top four bowlers in the world.
Morkel's rise to the top means that South African players dominate the ICC Test and ODI player rankings.
Besides Morkel, Hashim Amla is the top-ranked ODI batsman, while the Test rankings are led by fast bowler Dale Steyn and all-rounder Jacques Kallis.
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