New Zealand and Sri Lanka aim to make early ICC Cricket World Cup impression

Download the Reliance ICC Rankings App via www.icc-cricket.com/mobile to predict the outcome of the series.

New Zealand and Sri Lanka will be aiming to progress up the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings, when they go head to head in a seven-match ODI series, which starts in Christchurch on Sunday.

Sunday’s opening clash of the series will be a dress rehearsal for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 opener, which will start 33 days later at the same venue and between the same sides. While New Zealand will play all its pool stage matches on home turf, the forthcoming series will provide excellent opportunity to Sri Lanka to acclimatize as apart from the World Cup opener against New Zealand, it will also play Afghanistan and England at Dunedin and Wellington, respectively in the pool stage.

There are several permutations that could emerge over the coming weeks as Australia, England and India are also set to face off in a tri-series in Australia. All of the competing sides have an opportunity to progress ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which commences on 14 February.

To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the rankings table, please clickhere.The ODI and T20I rankings tables, unlike the Test ranking table, is updated after each match.

Meanwhile, in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, Sri Lanka batsmen Kumar Sangakarra is the highest-ranked batsman heading into the series and he lies in fourth place on 811 points, 17 points adrift of South Africa’s Hashim Amla. Sangakarra is joined by his team-mate Tillikaratne Dilshan who is in seventh place and holds a four-point lead over New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, who is in ninth position.

His compatriot Ross Taylor is one place outside of the top 10 in 11th spot and will be aiming to reduce India skipper MS Dhoni’s 16-point advantage. Taylor holds a 34-point lead over Angelo Mathews, who is a further place behind.

Amongst the other batsmen who are likely to feature in the series are Mahela Jayawardena (23rd), Martin Guptill (27th), Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum (33rd) and Lahiru Thirimanne (45th).

On the Reliance ICC Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers, seventh-ranked Sri Lanka spinner Sachithra Senanayake will be looking to reduce James Anderson’s 22-point gap. Fourteenth-placed Rangana Herath is the other Sri Lanka bowler inside the top 20, while Kyle Mills is the hosts’ highest-ranked bowler in 22nd place. Veteran left-armer Daniel Vettori and Tim Southee are tied on 593 points in 26th position in the rankings.

Meanwhile, there are two Sri Lanka players in the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings for ODI All-rounders, including Angelo Mathews who holds top spot on 409 points, six points clear of Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan. Dilshan lies in a career high fourth place, nine points behind Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez.

Forthcoming fixtures:New Zealand v Sri Lanka
11 Jan – First ODI, Christchurch
15 Jan – Second ODI, Hamilton (d/n)
17 Jan – Third ODI, Auckland (d/n)
20 Jan – Fourth ODI, Nelson
23 Jan – Fifth ODI, Dunedin
25 Jan – Sixth ODI, Dunedin
29 Jan – Seventh ODI, Wellington (d/n)

Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 9 January, ahead of New Zealand-Sri Lanka series)

1 Australia 117
2 India 117
3 South Africa 112
4 Sri Lanka 110
5 England 104
6 New Zealand 97
7 Pakistan 97
8 West Indies 96
9 Bangladesh 75
10 Zimbabwe 53
11 Afghanistan 42
12 Ireland 33
Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 9 January, ahead of New Zealand-Sri Lanka series):

Batsmen

Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 AB de Villiers SA 887 51.50 891 v Aus at Melbourne 2014
2 Virat Kohli Ind 862 52.61 886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014
3 Hashim Amla SA 828 53.18 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
4 K. Sangakkara SL 811 40.64 853 v Afg at Mirpur 2014
5 Shikhar Dhawan Ind 777 45.46 785 v SL at Hyderabad 2014
6 George Bailey Aus 771 44.20 867 v SA at Harare 2014
7 T. Dilshan SL 750 38.31 767 v Pak at Sharjah 2013
8 Quinton de Kock SA 749*! 43.58 749 v Aus at Sydney 2014
9 Kane Williamson NZ 746! 43.51 746 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2014
10 MS Dhoni Ind 738 52.85 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009

Selected Rankings

Rank Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
11 Ross Taylor NZ 722! 41.26 722 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2014
12 Angelo Mathews SL 688 40.62 707 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
23 M. Jayawardene SL 606 33.27 738 v WI at Colombo (RPS) 2001
27 Martin Guptill NZ 598 37.85 684 v Zim at Napier 2012
33 B. McCullum NZ 590 30.05 685 v Eng at Auckland 2013
45 L. Thirimanne SL 554 31.90 573 v Pak at Mirpur 2014
56 Luke Ronchi Aus/NZ 517* 30.14 519 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2014
68 D. Chandimal SL 499 30.17 667 v Aus at Adelaide 2012
70 Corey Anderson NZ 491* 36.69 604 v Ind at Hamilton 2014
91 Thisara Perera SL 437! 18.67 437 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
94 N. McCullum NZ 432 20.47 480 v WI at Nelson 2014
95 Grant Elliott NZ 430 29.79 525 v Pak at Johannesburg 2009

Bowlers

Rank Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating
1 Sunil Narine WI 753 26.49 4.10 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013
2 Saeed Ajmal Pak 751 22.18 4.13 810 v SA at Centurion 2013
3 Dale Steyn SA 699 25.65 4.83 746 v Ind at Durban 2013
4= Shakib Al Hasan Ban 680 27.92 4.26 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
M. Johnson Aus 680 25.72 4.82 724 v Ban at Darwin 2008
6 James Anderson Eng 666 29.10 4.94 719 v SA at The Oval 2013
7 S. Senanayake SL 644* 32.46 4.57 647 v Eng at Pallekele 2014
8 B. Kumar Ind 641 36.59 4.60 657 v WI at Dharamsala 2014
9 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 638 32.29 4.79 738 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013
10 M. Hafeez Pak 634 35.01 4.06 769 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

Selected Rankings

Rank Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating
14 Rangana Herath SL 621 31.13 4.42 703 v SA at Pallekele 2013
22 Kyle Mills NZ 604 26.94 4.73 722 v Aus at Melbourne 2009
25 Angelo Mathews SL 594 35.74 4.53 649 v Ind at Trinidad 2013
26= Daniel Vettori NZ 593 31.73 4.12 788 v Eng at Durham 2008
Tim Southee NZ 593 31.67 5.18 633 v Eng at Lord's 2013
30 Lasith Malinga SL 565 27.21 5.21 675 v Ban at Colombo (RPS) 2007
31 M. McClenaghan NZ 563* 25.23 5.87 578 v Ind at Napier 2014
37 N. McCullum NZ 550 48.21 4.82 571 v Ind at Wellington 2014
38 Suranga Lakmal SL 547*! 27.25 5.34 547 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
44 T. Dilshan SL 517! 44.46 4.79 517 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
55 N. Kulasekara SL 488 34.11 4.78 727 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009
62 Thisara Perera SL 460 28.20 5.55 610 v Ind at Colombo (RPS) 2012
97 Corey Anderson NZ 376* 28.32 6.24 378 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2014

All-rounders

Rank Player Team Points HS Rating
1 Angelo Mathews SL 409 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
2 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 403 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
3 Mohammad Hafeez Pak 397 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
4 Tillikaratne Dilshan SL 388! 388 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
5 Shahid Afridi Pak 340 383 v Ban at Mirpur 2011

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after a minimum of 40 started innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has conceded 1,500 runs.

!indicates career-highest rating

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