Proteas batsman Connor Esterhuizen has taken centre stage in the latest T20I player rankings.
The 24-year-old registered the second-highest rating points by a player from his country after five matches, following the series win in New Zealand.
Esterhuizen has climbed to 551 rating points, second only to former captain Graeme Smith’s tally of 617 after five matches, with Temba Bavuma (540) and Aiden Markram (530) among the others on the list.
Esterhuizen has surged 64 places to 39th after a productive debut series featuring scores of 45*, eight and 15, followed by match-winning knocks of 57 and 75 that earned him two Man of the Match awards. His aggregate of 200 runs also secured the Player of the Series honour, as the Proteas sealed a 3-2 series victory.
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In terms of rankings, Esterhuizen has the fourth-best place for a South Africa batsman after five matches, with Smith having topped the rankings at that stage while Bavuma and Markram were both placed 30th at the same stage of their careers.
Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai has the best rating points aggregate of 697 after five matches, having struck 18, 74, 82, 11 and 162* to reach 10th position.
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In the T20I bowling rankings, Proteas fast bowler Gerald Coetzee’s haul of 2-21 in the decisive fifth T20I in Christchurch has helped him advance 36 slots to joint-52nd position while Ottneil Baartman has progressed from 66th to 56th in the list.
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