England opener Jonny Bairstow broke back into the top 10 list in the latest ICC ODI Rankings for men’s cricket after his hundred in the third and final match of the recently-concluded series against Australia on Wednesday.
Bairstow gained 3 spots to be placed 10th on the list which is led by India captain Virat Kohli followed by his deputy Rohit Sharma.
The previous best for the 30-year-old Yorkshire player was ninth position in October 2018. He is now within 23 points of his career-best rating points of 777.
Bairstow smashed 112 off 126 balls in the 3rd ODI at Old Trafford but his knock went in vain as Australia rode on Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey’s centuries to chase down the target of 303 with 3 wickets in hand to clinch the series 2-1.
Maxwell scored 108 while Carey made 106 in the winning cause. It was their 212-run partnership for the 6th-wicket which helped Australia recover from an early collapse and ultimately win the match with 2 balls to spare.
As a result of their heroic knocks, Maxwell and Carey both made big gains in the rankings for batsmen. Maxwell jumped 5 places to be joint 26th with Ireland’s Paul Stirling while Carey is behind the duo in 28th position after gaining 11 places.
England all-rounder Chris Woakes also benefitted in the rankings after bagging 6 wickets in the 3 matches in which he also scored 89 runs including a half-century. Advanced 3 places to be ranked a career-best 2nd behind Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi.
Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has returned to the top 10 for the first time in nearly two years, his player of the match performance of 3/34 in the first match the highlight of a four-wicket tally. He has moved up from 15th to eighth position.
