South Africa’s AB de Villiers has regained the top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen after leading the list of run-scorers in the recent series against New Zealand which his side won 3-2.
De Villiers’s 262 runs in the series, including a highest of 85 in the third ODI at Wellington, have helped him overtake Australia opener David Warner at the top of the ladder, reclaiming the top spot within two months of losing it to India captain Virat Kohli.
De Villiers is on 875 points, four points ahead of Warner and 23 clear of Kohli in the rankings released today that take into account performances in 15 ODIs, also including West Indies’ 3-0 loss to England, Afghanistan’s 3-2 win over Zimbabwe and Ireland’s 2-0 verdict over the United Arab Emirates.
It is for the 10th time that the 33-year-old de Villiers is at the top of the rankings since first taking the spot in May 2010. He has never been ranked outside the top five since September 2009.
England batsmen Joe Root and Alex Hales are major gainers as they have reached career-best rankings after the series in the Caribbean. Root has reached fourth spot after scoring 195 runs including 101 in the final match in Bridgetown. Hales, who knocked up 110 in the same match, his fifth century in the last 20 ODIs, has gained four spots to reach 16th position.
Other batsmen to make upward movement include the New Zealand pair of Martin Guptill (up two places to seventh rank) and Ross Taylor (up two places to 14th) and the Ireland pair of Ed Joyce (up one place to 28th) and Kevin O’Brien (up three places to 40th).
In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers led by South Africa’s Imran Tahir, his team-mate Kagiso Rabada has broken into the top five for the first time after taking eight wickets in four matches against New Zealand. Rabada has leapfrogged Josh Hazlewood and Shakib Al Hasan even as Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi has also gained three spots to reach a career-best seventh rank.
England all-rounder Chris Woakes’s seven wickets against the West Indies see him break into the top 10 for the first time as he has moved up nine places to ninth slot while his team-mate Liam Plunkett’s 10 wickets in the series have helped him move up 36 places to 23rd rank.
New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner has broken into the top 20 for the first time after his five wickets against South Africa. He is not the only left-arm spinner to gain in the rankings as Hamza Hotak of Afghanistan (up 10 places to 22nd) and Ireland’s George Dockrell (up seven places to 34th) have also made upward movement.
Meanwhile, England’s 3-0 win over the West Indies sees it gain one point to reach 108 points but it remains in fifth position. The West Indies also remains in ninth position but the result means it is now five points behind Pakistan’s tally of 89 points, making its task of qualifying directly for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 all the more difficult.
England and the seven highest-ranked sides on the ODI Team Rankings as on 30 September 2017 will qualify directly for the ICC’s pinnacle 50-over tournament, while the remaining four sides will progress from the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018.
Bangladesh, which is on 91 points, gets a chance to improve its ranking points in an upcoming three-ODI series in Sri Lanka while Afghanistan and Ireland feature in a five-match ODI series later this month.
The ODI team rankings, unlike the Test rankings, are updated after each match. The ICC ODI predictor function is available here.
Forthcoming matches:
Afghanistan v Ireland
15 March – 1st ODI, Greater Noida
17 March – 2nd ODI, Greater Noida
19 March – 3rd ODI, Greater Noida
22 March – 4th ODI, Greater Noida
24 March – 5th ODI, Greater Noida
Sri Lanka v Bangladesh
25 March – 1st ODI, Dambulla
28 March – 2nd ODI, Dambulla
1 April – 3rd ODI, Colombo
The ICC Champions Trophy returns to Wales in June, with England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka all playing pool games in the Welsh capital prior to the semi-final clash at the Cardiff Wales Stadium. Tickets for these matches go back on general sale in 4th April from the ICC website www.icc-cricket.com
To see AB de Viliers in action supporters can purchase tickets now for the final clash of this summer's tour between South Africa and England in white ball cricket in Cardiff on June 25th. CLICK HERE to secure your seats
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as of 10 March 2017, after West Indies-England series)
Rank Team Points
1. South Africa 119
2. Australia 118
3. New Zealand 113
4. India 112
5. England 108 (+1)
6. Sri Lanka 98
7. Bangladesh 91
8. Pakistan 89
9. West Indies 84 (-2)
10. Afghanistan 53
11. Zimbabwe 48
12. Ireland 42
(Developed by David Kendix)
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings (as of 10 March, including West Indies v England, New Zealand v South Africa, Afghanistan v Zimbabwe and UAE v Ireland series)
Batsmen (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 (+1) AB de Villiers SA 875 54.28 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015
2 (-1) David Warner Aus 871 44.84 880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017
3 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 852 53.11 886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014
4 (+4) Joe Root Eng 787! 47.77 787 v WI at Barbados 2017
5 (-1) Faf du Plessis SA 781 43.81 791 v SL at Cape Town 2017
6 (-1) Q. de Kock SA 780 43.64 803 v NZ at Wellington 2017
7 (+2) Martin Guptill NZ 777 43.66 789 v SA at Hamilton 2017
8 (-2) K. Williamson NZ 758 45.91 798 v SA at Centurion 2015
9= (+1) Babar Azam Pak 733*! 53.09 733 v Aus at Adelaide 2015
(+1) Steve Smith Aus 733 43.67 752 v Pak at Sydney 2017
Other Selected:
16 (+4) Alex Hales Eng 676*! 38.28 676 v WI at Barbados 2017
17 ( - ) Jason Roy Eng 660* 40.31 664 v WI at Antigua 2017
18 (-4) Jos Buttler Eng 659 36.34 723 v Ban at Mirpur 2016
20 (+2) Eoin Morgan Ire/Eng 631 37.71 690 v Aus at The Oval 2010
36 (+5) Ben Stokes Eng 570 29.61 573 v WI at Antigua 2017
Bowlers (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Imran Tahir SA 750 23.65 4.63 786 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
2= (+1) Sunil Narine WI 700 26.46 4.12 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013
(+2) Mitchell Starc Aus 700 19.89 4.82 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
4 (-2) Trent Boult NZ 697 24.85 4.98 766 v Ind at Delhi 2016
5 (+2) K. Rabada SA 686*! 25.29 5.11 686 v NZ at Auckland 2017
Other selected
9 (+9) Chris Woakes Eng 636! 32.60 5.60 636 v WI at Barbados 2017
14 (-5) Adil Rashid Eng 604 35.36 5.64 655 v Ban at Chittagong 2016
23 (+36) Liam Plunkett Eng 566*! 32.16 5.89 566 v WI at Barbados 2017
All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 377 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
2 ( - ) Mohammad Nabi Afg 349! 349 v Zim at Harare 2017
3 ( - ) Angelo Mathews SL 318 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014