Opportunity for South Africa to move up to second position

Fourth-ranked South Africa has a chance to climb up to second position in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings when it hosts number-one ranked world champions Australia in a five-match series from 30 September to 12 October.

A busy limited-overs cricket period, which starts on 25 September with the Bangladesh versus Afghanistan ODI in Mirpur and a one-off South Africa versus Ireland ODI in Benoni and culminates with the third ODI between Bangladesh and England in Mirpur and fifth ODI between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town on 12 October, will see 16 matches being played between eight teams on the ICC ODI rankings with a year to go before the determination of which seven highest-ranked sides along with England will qualify automatically for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

While Australia and South Africa will aim to consolidate their current positions, Bangladesh, the West Indies and Pakistan will target to improve their rankings.

The string of matches start on Sunday with the first of three ODIs between Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Mirpur and a one-off ODI between South Africa and Ireland in Benoni. Ireland also gets a match against Australia in Benoni on 27 September, while Pakistan and West Indies will play a three-match series in the United Arab Emirates from 30 September to 5 October. Bangladesh will host England for three ODIs from 7 to 12 October.

World champion Australia is currently on 124 points and without an immediate threat to its top ranking with New Zealand second on 113 points.

But a series win for South Africa, which is fraction of a point behind India, against Australia could help it move ahead of the reigning ICC Champions Trophy winner. A 3-2 series win will put South Africa in third position on 112 points, while a 4-1 series win will lift it to second position on 114 points.

For Australia, a 3-2 series win will maintain its current 124 points with a maximum drop to 118 points in the case of a 5-0 series whitewash. Even if it also loses its preceding one-off match to Ireland and gets blanked by South Africa, Australia will retain number-one position at 116 points with South Africa behind it on decimal points.

For Bangladesh, which is currently seventh-ranked with 98 points, a 3-0 win against Afghanistan and a 2-1 win against England could help it move to sixth place, ahead of Sri Lanka on decimal points.

England will retain its fifth position, irrespective of how the series pans out.

Former world champion Pakistan, which is the top-ranked Test side but is struggling in ninth position, can overtake eighth-ranked West Indies only with a 3-0 win. In that scenario, it will jump from 86 points to 89 points, while the West Indies will slide from 94 points to 88 points.

The ODI team rankings, unlike the Test rankings, are updated after each match. The ICC ODI predictor function is availablehere.

In the individual rankings, South Africa players will be in focus since they have four each in the top 10 in the list of batsmen and bowlers.

Captain AB de Villiers is top-ranked in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, Hashim Amla is third-ranked while Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis are in ninth and 10th places, respectively.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers led by West Indies’ Sunil Narine, leg-spinner Imran Tahir is South Africa’s leading player at fifth position with the pace duo of Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada at joint-seventh place. Morne Morkel completes the team’s dominance in individual rankings at ninth slot.

Australia does not have a single batsman in the top 10 but a group of batsmen just a little below with David Warner the best at 13th rank. Aaron Finch (15th), George Bailey (17th) and Steve Smith (18th) are all in the top 20. Pace bowler Mitchell Starc is the only Australian in the top 10 among bowlers, at third position.

Other batsmen looking to better their rankings in upcoming matches will include Joe Root (4th) of England, Mushfiqur Rahim (19th) of Bangladesh, Mohammad Hafeez (23rd) of Pakistan and Ed Joyce (28th) of Ireland.

In the bowlers’ list, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan (4th), Pakistan pace bowler Mohammad Irfan (11th) and the Afghanistan pair of Mirwais Ashraf (21st) and Mohammad Nabi (22nd) will be among those eyeing chances to improve their rankings.****

Upcoming ODIs:

South Africa v Ireland:

September 25: Only ODI, Benoni

Bangladesh v Afghanistan:

September 25: 1st ODI, Mirpur

September 28: 2nd ODI, Bangladesh v Afghanistan, Mirpur

October 1: 3rd ODI, Bangladesh v Afghanistan, Mirpur

Australia v Ireland:

September 27: Only ODI, Benoni

South Africa v Australia:

September 30: 1st ODI, Centurion

October 2: 2nd ODI, Johnnesburg

October 5: 3rd ODI, Durban

October 9: 4th ODI, Port Elizabeth

October 12: 5th ODI, Cape Town

Pakistan v West Indies:

September 30: 1st ODI, Pakistan v West Indies, Sharjah

October 2: 2nd ODI, Pakistan v West Indies, Sharjah

October 5: 3rd ODI, Pakistan v West Indies, Abu Dhabi

Bangladesh v England:

October 7: 1st ODI, Bangladesh v England, Mirpur

October 9: 2nd ODI, Bangladesh v England, Mirpur

October 12: 3rd ODI, Bangladesh v England, Chittagong

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as of 23 September 2016)

Rank Team Points

1. Australia            124
   

2. New Zealand     113
   

3. India                  110
   

4. South Africa      110
   

5. England             107
   

6. Sri Lanka           101
   

7. Bangladesh          98
   

8. West Indies          94
   

9. Pakistan               86
   

10. Afghanistan 49

11. Zimbabwe 46

12. Ireland 43

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings (as of 23 September 2016)

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 AB de Villiers SA 887 53.63 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015

2 Virat Kohli Ind 813 51.51 886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014

3 Hashim Amla SA 778 51.97 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

4 Joe Root Eng 758 45.71 776 v Pak at Trent Bridge 2016

5 K. Williamson NZ 752 47.00 798 v SA at Centurion 2015

6 Martin Guptill NZ 751! 43.25 751 v Aus at Hamilton 2016

7 Rohit Sharma Ind 750 42.08 761 v Aus at Sydney 2016

8 Shikhar Dhawan Ind 737 43.97 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015

9 Q. de Kock SA 735 41.83 789 v Eng at Centurion 2016

10= Faf du Plessis SA 716 40.56 730 v Aus at Barbados 2016

T. Dilshan SL 716 39.27 802 v Sco at Hobart 2015

Other selected rankings

Rank Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

13 David Warner Aus 703 38.45 726 v SA at St Kitts 2016

15= Aaron Finch Aus 698 37.34 743 v Eng at Melbourne 2015

Jos Buttler Eng 698 38.37 706 v SA at Port Elizabeth 2016

17 George Bailey Aus 695 42.50 867 v SA at Harare 2014

18 Steve Smith Aus 687 41.25 709 v Ind at Canberra 2016

19 M. Rahim Ban 661 31.61 671 v Zim at Mirpur 2015

22 Glenn Maxwell Aus 636 33.26 735 v Ind at Canberra 2016

23 M. Hafeez Pak 617 32.35 665 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

24 Tamim Iqbal Ban 611 31.63 637 v WI at Khulna 2012

28 Ed Joyce Ire 604 37.67 618 v Afg at Belfast 2016

34 M. Shahzad Afg 578 36.81 593 v Ire at Belfast 2016

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating

1 Sunil Narine WI 759 25.74 4.07 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013

2 Trent Boult NZ 731* 22.96 4.81 745 v Aus at Auckland 2016

3 Mitchell Starc Aus 711 19.61 4.78 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015

4 S. Al Hasan Ban 699 27.89 4.30 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

5 Imran Tahir SA 693 23.13 4.64 735 v SL at Sydney 2015

6 Matt Henry NZ 675*! 22.17 5.42 675 v Aus at Hamilton 2016

7= Dale Steyn SA 645 25.93 4.86 746 v Ind at Durban 2013

Kagiso Rabada SA 645*! 21.45 4.78 645 v WI at Barbados 2016

9 Morne Morkel SA 628 24.60 4.95 717 v SL at East London 2012

10 Adil Rashid Eng 609* 40.21 5.66 612 v Pak at Headingley 2016

Other selected rankings

Rank Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating

11 M. Irfan Pak 607 30.71 4.91 641 v UAE at Napier 2015

14 Moeen Ali Eng 596 42.00 4.98 610 v SA at Cape Town 2016

15 M. Mortaza Ban 579 30.76 4.73 653 v Zim at Mirpur 2009

16 Chris Woakes Eng 578 33.70 5.65 591 v Pak at Trent Bridge 2016

17 Josh Hazlewood Aus 575* 25.33 4.64 593 v WI at Barbados 2016

18 James Faulkner Aus 570 31.07 5.47 585 v NZ at Melbourne 2015

19 Jason Holder WI 565 32.70 5.58 577 v Aus at St Kitts 2016

21 Mirwais Ashraf Afg 558*! 30.31 3.98 558 v Ire at Belfast 2016

22 M. Nabi Afg 556 35.82 4.34 564 v Ire at Dubai (GCA) 2015

32 G. Dockrell Ire 530 31.67 4.42 589 v WI at Nelson 2015

All-rounders (top five)

Rank Player Team Pts Highest Rating

1 S. Al Hasan Ban 416 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

2 A. Mathews SL 352 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014

3 James Faulkner Aus 334 361 v NZ at Melbourne 2015

4 T. Dilshan SL 303 415 v Sco at Hobart 2015

5 M. Nabi Afg 292 296 v Ire at Dubai (GCA) 2015

***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

For more information on player rankings, please click here.