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Johannesburg - South Africa and Australia have retained the top two positions on the ICC ODI Team rankings following the May 1 annual update.
Eighth-ranked Pakistan have opened up a nine-point advantage over ninth-ranked the West Indies however which could prove decisive since England plus the next seven highest-ranked sides as on September 30, 2017 will qualify automatically for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
The annual update is carried out to ensure the table continues to reflect teams’ recent form with older results being discarded. As such, the table now reflects all matches from May 1, 2014, with matches played from May 1, 2016 carrying 100 percent weighting.
Both Pakistan and ninth-ranked West Indies have dropped points following the update - Pakistan slipping from 90 points to 88 points and the West Indies slid from 83 points to 79 points. However, Pakistan’s pre-update seven-point gap has extended to nine points.
Seventh-ranked Bangladesh and sixth-ranked Sri Lanka have also conceded points.
Bangladesh has surrendered one point and is now on 91 points, but its gap over eighth-ranked Pakistan has increased from two points to three. Sri Lanka, who were sitting pretty on 98 points prior to the annual update, have slid to 93 points to now lead Bangladesh by only two points. However, Sri Lanka leads the West Indies by 14 points.
In the lead up to the September 30, 2017 cut-off date and according to the current Future Tours Programme, Bangladesh is scheduled to play in a tri-series in Ireland, which also features New Zealand, before taking part in the ICC Champions Trophy. The West Indies will play host to Afghanistan in a three-ODI series in June before traveling to England where they will play five ODIs in September. Pakistan’s only assignment before the cut-off is the ICC Champions Trophy.
Meanwhile, number-one ranked South Africa have gained four points following the annual update and are now on 123 points, while world champion and second-ranked Australia has stayed on 118 points.
India, which will defend the ICC Champions Trophy title in the UK in June, has swapped places with ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 finalist New Zealand. Both the sides have gained points following the update but India’s five-point gain against New Zealand’s increase of three means India is now ranked third on 117 points and New Zealand is fourth on 115 points.
England, which will host the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, has retained its fifth ranking but has moved up one point to 109.
There is no change to 10th-ranked Afghanistan’s tally of 52 points, but 11th-ranked Zimbabwe have dropped two points and are now on 46 points. Ireland have gained one point and are on 43 points.
The small difference in points in the middle of the table adds a lot of context, entertainment and excitement to the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy and other matches up to September 30 since performances during this period could help sides to qualify directly for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 rather than having to progress through the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018.
ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on May 1, following the annual update)
(Under rank, country, points)
1. South Africa 123
2. Australia 118
3. India 117
4. New Zealand 115
5. England 109
6. Sri Lanka 93
7. Bangladesh 91
8. Pakistan 88
9. West Indies 79
10. Afghanistan 52
11. Zimbabwe 46
12. Ireland 43
