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)

Rank ( /-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 ( ) Virat Kohli Ind 899 59.83 911 v Eng at Headingley 2018

2 ( ) Rohit Sharma Ind 871! 47.78 871 v Win at Thiruvananthapur 2018

3 ( ) Ross Taylor NZ 823! 47.91 823 v SL at Nelson 2019

4 ( ) Joe Root Eng 807 51.52 824 v SL at Dambulla 2018

5 ( ) Babar Azam Pak 802 51.52 846 v NZ at Wellington 2018

6 ( ) David Warner Aus 791 43.43 880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017

7 ( ) Faf du Plessis SA 785 45.12 802 v Ind at Durban 2018

8 ( ) Shai Hope Win 780! 47.48 780 v Ban at Sylhet 2018

9 ( ) S. Dhawan Ind 767 45.69 813 v Pak at Dubai 2018

10 ( 1) Q. de Kock SA 754 44.44 808 v Ban at East London 2017

11 (-1) K. Williamson NZ 744 46.22 798 v SA at Centurion 2015

12 ( ) Fakhar Zaman Pak 729*! 57.95 729 v NZ at Dubai 2018

13 ( ) Jonny Bairstow Eng 726 48.02 777 v Aus at Durham 2018

14 ( ) Martin Guptill NZ 715 43.16 789 v SA at Hamilton 2017

15= ( ) M. Rahim Ban 712! 34.94 712 v Win at Sylhet 2018

( ) Tamim Iqbal Ban 712 36.64 737 v Win at St Kitts 2018

17 ( ) Hashim Amla SA 707 49.65 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

18 ( ) Aaron Finch Aus 690 37.56 744 v Eng at Melbourne 2015

19 ( ) Jos Buttler Eng 685 39.7 723 v Ban at Mirpur 2016

20 ( ) Eoin Morgan Eng 675 38.57 690 v Aus at The Oval 2010

Bowlers (top 20)

Rank ( /-) Player Team Pts Eco Avg Highest Rating

1 ( ) Jasprit Bumrah Ind 841!

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