Australia's unrelentingly reliable quick Josh Hazlewood is homing in on the top spot in the world Test bowling rankings - with only the evergreen veteran tweaker Ravichandran Ashwin barring his way to No.1.
Hazlewood's terrific Test summer, in which he took 35 wickets at 15.31 apiece, concluded with his five-for in the second-Test win over New Zealand in Christchurch and moved him up to equal second-place in the rankings, alongside the previous No.1, Indian ace Jasprit Bumrah, on 847 points.
But Ashwin has spun his way above both of them on 870 by finishing with a nine-wicket match haul in his 100th Test in the fifth-Test drubbing of England in Dharamsala.
Hazlewood, at 33, has equalled his best-ever position in the rankings, which he first achieved seven years ago in February 2017.
He's not far off his best rating of 864 - achieved in March 2017 - but is still yet to make the top spot. Only Kapil Dev (877), Ryan Harris (870), Courtney Walsh (868) and Rangana Herath (866) have had higher tallies without ever reaching No.1.
Remarkably, Ashwin now begins a sixth stint at the top of the rankings, having first become No.1 over nine years ago.
Australia's formidable Test attack sees them with three bowlers in the world's top six, with captain Pat Cummins fifth (820) and spinner Nathan Lyon sixth (801).
Alex Carey's match-winning 98 not out sees him as the big batting mover, going up from 50th to 38th, while Mitch Marsh has moved up eight places to 55th.
New Zealand's Kane Williamson continues his reign as No.1 batter on 859 points, with Steve Smith still the top Australian despite again slipping down another two places to No.5 on 757 points.
In the previous rankings, the 34-year-old Smith had dropped below 800 points for the first time since 2014 and he's now slid another 32 points to 757 behind Williamson, Joe Root (824), Babar Azam and Daryl Mitchell (both 768).
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, player of the India-England series, has, extraordinarily, moved to 740 after just nine Tests in his high-flying Test career.
Only two batters, both Australians, have ever been calculated to have tallied more points at the same point in their careers - Mike Hussey (741) and the peerless Don Bradman on 752.
Australian Associated Press
