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| Leading lights in batting and bowling rankings set to face-off in three-match series |
Just a single point separates the two sides heading into the series and this will be their first meeting in 50-over cricket since the thrilling ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 semi final in Auckland which the Black Caps won by four wickets. The Proteas can move to within three points of second-placed India with a 3-0 win, while a 2-1 scoreline for AB de Villiers’ side would see it switch both points tally and places with the Black Caps.
A whitewash in favour of Kane Williamson’s men, on the other side of the coin, can strengthen its third position in the rankings and reduce India’s lead to two points, while a 2-1 win would see it gain a point.
South Africa (109 pts) v New Zealand (110 pts)
· If SA wins 3-0, then SA 112 pts, NZ 107 pts
· If SA wins 2-1, then SA 110 pts, NZ 109 pts
· If NZ wins 3-0, then SA 107 pts, NZ 113 pts
· If NZ wins 2-1, then SA 109 pts, NZ 111 pts
· If the series is drawn 1-1, then SA 45 pts, NZ 110 pts
The ICC ODI and T20I Team Rankings predictor function is available here. The ODI and T20I tables, unlike the Testtable, is updated after the series.
Proteas captain AB de Villiers is the highest ranked batsman in ODI cricket heading into the series in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen. The 31-year-old Pretorian holds a 50-points advantage over Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and is now just 59 runs short of the 8,000 mark in 187 matches to date. Hashim Amla is ranked in third place, eight points and a place ahead of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson. Other batsmen aiming for upwards movement on either side are Faf du Plessis (17th), Martin Guptill (19th), David Miller (26th), Grant Elliott (44th) and wicket-keeper Luke Ronchi (50th).
South Africa has three bowlers in the top 10 of the Bowling rankings with just two points separating Dale Steyn (fourth) and Imran Tahir (fifth). Tenth-placed Morne Morkel is on 646 points, four points adrift of England’s James Anderson ahead of the series, with Vernon Philander next on the list in 29th. Meanwhile, in the absence of Trent Boult (second place) and Tim Southee (24th) in the ICC Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers, New Zealand’s Mitchell McClenaghan (29th) is his side’s highest ranked bowler followed by Nathan McCullum (44th) and Matt Henry (46th).
Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan continues to hold a commanding lead at the top of the ICC Player Rankings for ODI All-rounders on 418 points.
Forthcoming matches:
South Africa v New Zealand
19 Aug – First ODI, Centurion (d/n)
23 Aug – Second ODI, Potchefstroom
26 Aug – Third ODI, Kingsmead (d/n)
ICC ODI Championship table (as on 17 August, ahead of South Africa-New Zealand series):
Rank Team Points
1 Australia 129
2 India 115
3 New Zealand 110
4 South Africa 109
5 Sri Lanka 103
6 England 98
7 Bangladesh 96
8 Pakistan 90
9 West Indies 88
10 Ireland 50
11 Zimbabwe 45
12 Afghanistan 41
(Developed by David Kendix)
ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 17 August, ahead of South Africa-New Zealand series):
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 AB de Villiers SA 889 53.65 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015
2 K. Sangakkara SL 839 41.98 861 v Sco at Hobart 2015
3 Hashim Amla SA 806 54.17 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
4 K. Williamson NZ 798! 48.79 798 v Zim at Harare 2015
5 Virat Kohli Ind 790 50.66 886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014
6 T. Dilshan SL 781 39.71 802 v Sco at Hobart 2015
7 Shikhar Dhawan Ind 765 44.41 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015
8 Ross Taylor NZ 739 43.91 743 v Zim at Harare 2015
9 MS Dhoni Ind 723 52.24 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009
10 Glenn Maxwell Aus 720 35.05 724 v Pak at Adelaide 2015
Selected rankings
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
17 F. du Plessis SA 666 37.16 703 v NZ at Bay Oval 2014
19 Martin Guptill NZ 654 40.61 684 v Zim at Napier 2012
26 David Miller SA 629 37.55 635 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
44 Grant Elliott NZ 557! 36.05 557 v Zim at Harare 2015
50 Luke Ronchi Aus/NZ 546 27.57 617 v SL at Christchurch 2015
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 Mitchell Starc Aus 783! 18.33 4.70 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
2 Trent Boult NZ 716* 24.08 4.64 738 v Eng at The Oval 2015
3 Sunil Narine WI 709 26.49 4.10 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013
4 Dale Steyn SA 706 25.57 4.81 746 v Ind at Durban 2013
5 Imran Tahir SA 704 21.54 4.40 735 v SL at Sydney 2015
6 M. Johnson Aus 693 25.26 4.83 724 v Ban at Darwin 2008
7 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 690 28.35 4.30 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
8 Saeed Ajmal Pak 665 22.73 4.18 810 v SA at Centurion 2013
9 James Anderson Eng 650 29.22 4.92 719 v SA at The Oval 2013
10 Morne Morkel SA 646 24.19 4.92 717 v SL at East London 2012
Selected rankings
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
29 V. Philander SA 544* 23.43 4.63 574 v Zim at Hamilton 2015
39 M. McClenaghan NZ 510 28.78 6.04 603 v SL at Christchurch 2015
44 N. McCullum NZ 494 46.46 5.00 571 v Ind at Wellington 2014
46 Matt Henry NZ 493* 27.28 5.66 506 v Zim at Harare 2015
All-rounders
Rank Player Team Pts S Rating
1 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 418 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
2 T. Dilshan SL 379 415 v Sco at Hobart 2015
3 Angelo Mathews SL 375 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
4 M. Hafeez Pak 368 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
5 James Faulkner Aus 361*/! 361 v NZ at Melbourne 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.
Source: ICC