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 this weekend with the Bangladesh versus Afghanistan ODI in Mirpur and the 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 to qualify automatically for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
While Australia and South Africa will aim to consolidate their positions, Bangladesh, the West Indies and Pakistan will target moving up the ladder.
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, but 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. 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.
South Africa return to play in Cardiff next summer after the ICC Champions Trophy fixtures, with a NatWest IT20 clash against England at The SSE SWALEC on 25th June, 11 days after the tournament semi-final in the Welsh capital. CLICK HERE to register for priority access to tickets for the match
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