Ashton Agar
Ashton Agar celebrates his hat-trick with his teammates (Credits: Twitter)

Australia spinner Ashton Agar has broken into the top of the ICC T20I Rankings for bowlers, released on Thursday after the conclusion of the three-match series between South Africa and Australia. The team from Down Under thrashed the Proteas by 97 runs on Wednesday to seal the series 2-1.

Put in to bat first, Australia posted a mammoth total of 193 for 5 in their stipulated 20 overs. Openers David Warner and Aaron Finch starred with the bat, scoring 57 and 55 runs respectively. Steve Smith then played a fine cameo of 30 from 15 balls to help his side finish strongly. In reply, South Africa never looked in contention to chase down the total and were all out for just 96.

Talking about the ICC T20I Rankings, Ashton Agar jumped six places to No.4. His compatriots David Warner, Steve Smith and Mitchell Stars also made substantial gains. Agar was in splendid form against South Africa, picking up five wickets in the first game, including a hat-trick. In the next two games, he took three wickets.

Another Australia spinner Adam Zampa rose one spot to No.3 after finishing with five scalps for the series. South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi jumped three spots to reach the No.5 spot.

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David Warner, who scored two fifties in the series, moved to No.18 from 25th. Smith, who has been impressive in T20Is in recent times, climbed 25 spots to No.53 on the ICC T20I rankings after scoring 104 runs in the series.

Among Indians, KL Rahul is the highest-ranked batsman at number two. India skipper Virat Kohli is the only other Indian in the top ten. The right-handed batsman is at No.10. Among bowlers, Rashid Khan continues to sit on top. No Indian bowler features in the top ten of ICC T20I rankings for bowlers. At 12th spot, Jasprit Bumrah is the highest-ranked Indian bowler.

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