Australia regains top spot in ODI rankings after Proteas falter against the Kiwis

It was a stupendous knock from Martin Guptill that helped New Zealand beat South Africa in the fourth ODI at home. The Proteas not only lost the game but slipped down to number 2 spot in the ICC ODI rankings. The beneficiary of all this was team Australia that has now moved back to the top spot in the team rankings. The series between New Zealand and South Africa stand leveled at 2-2 at the moment with the decider still to be played.

If South Africa manages to win the series 3-2, they will move back at the helm in the rankings. In case the Kiwis dominate the final ODI, their neighbours Australia will continue to reign supreme at the top. It was after South Africa’s whitewash win against Sri Lanka last month that they had replaced the Steve Smith-led side in the rankings. Now, a few fraction of points differentiates them. Both teams know the advantage of ending as the top-ranked team in the month of April.

The No.1 side gets a huge bounty from the ICC for finishing at the top on the cut off date every year. While Aussies can do nothing but see the waiting game as they have no more ODI fixtures to play before the Champions Trophy in June, South Africa have their destiny in their own hands.

Considering the current form, one could well back up the Proteas to finish at the top but cannot undermine the spirited Kiwis at home either. Talking about Australia, they have had a mixed performance bag in ODIs this summer. They beat Pakistan 4-1 at home and then backed it up by whitewashing New Zealand at home. However, they had earlier faced an embarrassing 0-5 defeat in South Africa and that had taken a hampering on their points in the rankings.

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Also, their most recent ODI series, the Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand, saw them endure a 0-2 defeat that had helped the Proteas edge past them. Both team have 118 points in the points table in rankings at the moment. However, it is the 7227 points of Australia that stands ahead of South Africa’s 7224 points. Team India, who recently won the ODI series against England, are placed third in the rankings.

Here are the latest ICC ODI team rankings: