Black Caps establish slender rankings lead over Proteas

Players from both Sri Lanka and New Zealand made gains in the latest ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings.

New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi and fast bowler Lachlan Ferguson have moved up in the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings after creditable performances during a 3-0 sweep over Sri Lanka in a home series that ended on Tuesday.

• Malinga, Thisara Perera and Henry Nicholls among others to gain in latest update
• Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa will look to improve rankings in upcoming fixtures while preparing for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 

The two are now in joint-31st position after Sodhi’s eight wickets in the series helped him climb up 26 slots and Ferguson’s seven wickets lifted him 12 places to a career-best position in the list led by India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Sri Lanka captain Lasith Malinga is another bowler to gain in the latest update, moving up three places to take 46th spot after finishing with seven scalps in the series.I

Among batsmen, Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill have retained their third and 14th positions after scoring 281 and 153 runs, respectively, while New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has dropped out of the top-10 to 11th position. Henry Nicholls has gained 21 places to take 59th position while Colin Munro has moved up from 58th to 56th.

Niroshan Dickwella (up one place to 26th), Thisara Perera (up 22 places to 65th), Kusal Perera (up seven places to 66th) and Danushka Gunathilaka (up 11 places to 82nd) are the batsmen to gain from the Sri Lanka side. The India pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are at the top of the list.

In the ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings, New Zealand have retained third position after blanking the opposition but will lose the position if the Proteas win four of their five ODIs against Pakistan. They have gained one point to move up to 113 while Sri Lanka remain in eighth position but have lost one point to drop to 78 points.

Ross Taylor retained his No.3 position in the batsmen’s rankings

Meanwhile, more sides will be looking to move up the rankings while also preparing for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July, with 13 matches scheduled in a period of just over three weeks. India get a chance to close the gap with table leaders England, and South Africa of moving up from their fourth position.

India, who play three matches against Australia and five against New Zealand, could reach 125 points and within one point of England if they are able to win all eight matches while Pakistan need to beat South Africa 5-0 in order to overtake them. 

Series scenarios:

Australia v India:

• India win 3-0: India 122 points, Australia 98 points
• India win 2-1: India 120, Australia 100
• Australia win 2-1: India 119, Australia 102
• Australia win 3-0: India 117, Australia 104

South Africa v Pakistan:

• South Africa win 5-0: South Africa 115 points, Pakistan 98 points
• South Africa win 4-1: South Africa 113, Pakistan 99
• South Africa win 3-2: South Africa 111, Pakistan 101
• Pakistan win 3-2: South Africa 109, Pakistan 103
• Pakistan win 4-1: South Africa 107, Pakistan 105
• Pakistan win 5-0: Pakistan 108, South Africa 105

The scenarios of the New Zealand-India series depend on the results of the Australia-India series. The predictor function is available here.

Upcoming fixtures

Australia v India:

12 January: 1st ODI, Sydney 
15 January: 2nd ODI, Adelaide
18 January: 3rd ODI, Melbourne

South Africa v Pakistan:
19 January: 1st ODI, Port Elizabeth
22 January: 2nd ODI, Durban
25 January: 3rd ODI, Centurion
27 January: 4th ODI, Johannesburg
30 January: 5th ODI, Cape Town

New Zealand v India:
23 January: 1st ODI, Napier
26 January: 2nd ODI, Tauranga
28 January: 3rd ODI, Tauranga
31 January: 4th ODI, Hamilton
3 February: 5th ODI, Wellington

MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as of 9 January, after the New Zealand-Sri Lanka series)

Rank	Team	Points
1	England	126
2	India	121
3	New Zealand	113
4	South Africa	111
5	Pakistan	102
6	Australia	100
7	Bangladesh	93
8	Sri Lanka	78
9	West Indies	72
10	Afghanistan	67
11	Zimbabwe	52
12	Ireland	39
13	Scotland	33
14	UAE	21

Nepal will qualify for a full ranking after playing one more ODI, the Netherlands will qualify for a full ranking after playing two more matches.

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 9 January, after the New Zealand-Sri Lanka series)

Batsmen (top 20)

Bowlers (top 20)

All-rounders (top five)

For more information on player rankings, please click here.

The predictor function is availablehere