New Zealand, South Africa and England aim to improve their ODI rankings

New Zealand has gained a place in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings following its 2-0 series win over Pakistan, and will be aiming for further improvement when it goes head to head with Australia in a three-match series beginning in Auckland on 3 February.

Third-ranked New Zealand is on 112 points and trails world champion and number-one ranked Australia by 16 points. This means it will gain points if it wins the series.

A 3-0 series win will lift New Zealand to 115 points while a 2-1 series win will take it to 114 points. In contrast, if it loses 3-0, then it will slip to 110 points whereas a 2-1 series loss will mean both sides will retain their pre-series points.

Australia, in contrast, will retain its number-one position irrespective of how the series pans out. It will rise to as high as 130 points if it wins the series 3-0 but will drop to 124 points if New Zealand wins all the three matches.

Fourth-ranked South Africa and sixth-ranked England will be keeping an eye on the series in New Zealand as they too have an opportunity to move up the ladder when their series also starts on 3 February in Bloemfontein.

A 5-0 win for the home side will mean it will rise to 115 points, while England will drop to 98 points. However, if the series result is reversed, then England will move to 106 points with South Africa finishing just a point ahead on 107.

If England wins the series 3-2, then it will earn one point while South Africa will concede two points. A 3-2 series win for South Africa will mean both the sides will retain their pre-series points.

Meanwhile, South Africa captain AB de Villiers will start the forthcoming series as the number-one ranked batsman on the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen. His team-mate Hashim Amla is third, 124 points behind.

Other players inside the top 20 to feature in the series in New Zealand and South Africa, and aiming for an upward movement, include Kane Williamson (fourth), Glenn Maxwell (eighth), Martin Guptill (ninth), Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock (joint-10^th), Ross Taylor (12^th), George Bailey (14^th), Steve Smith (15^th), Aaron Finch (16^th), Joe Root (17^th), David Warner (18^th) and Jos Buttler (19^th).

New Zealand’s Trent Boult will start off as the number-one ranked bowler, with South Africa’s Imran Tahir, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel in fourth, fifth and sixth positions, respectively.

In the absence of Mitchell Starc, James Faulkner is the highest-ranked Australia bowler in 28^th spot, while John Hastings is 49^th, Josh Hazlewood (61^st) and Maxwell (62^nd).

England’s highest-ranked bowler is Moeen Ali in 14^th place, while Chris Woakes is sitting in 40^th position.

Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh is the number-one ranked all-rounder, while Maxwell is in fourth position – 13 points behind Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan.

The player rankings will now be updated following the conclusion of South Africa-England series.

Forthcoming matches:

New Zealand v Australia

3 Feb – 1^st ODI, Auckland

6 Feb – 2^nd ODI, Wellington

8 Feb – 3^rd ODI, Hamilton

South Africa v England

3 Feb – 1^st ODI, Bloemfontein

6 Feb – 2^nd ODI, Port Elizabeth

9 Feb – 3^rd ODI, Centurion

12 Feb – 4^th ODI, Johannesburg

14 Feb – 5^th ODI, Cape Town

MRF TYRES ICC ODI Championship (as of 1 February, following New Zealand and Pakistan series and before the start of New Zealand-Australia and South Africa-England series) 

Check latest ODI batsmen rankings here.