Australia and South Africa eye India's number-one ODI ranking

India had jumped to number-one position after it won the second match of the five-ODI series against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad by six wickets. And after securing an unassailable 3-0 lead, it is ahead of second-ranked South Africa by one ratings point with Australia one more ratings point behind in third position.

With the final two ODIs to be played in Kolkata and Ranchi on Thursday and Sunday respectively, the reigning world champion can finish as high as 117 ratings points (if it wins the remaining two ODIs) and as low as 114 ratings points if Sri Lanka emerges victorious in both the matches. India will still be in number-one position by a fraction of a point if Sri Lanka wins Thursday’s game.

With this in mind, Australia and South Africa will lock horns with 93 days to go to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

If Australia wins the series 3-2, then it will finish on 115 ratings points while South Africa will drop to 114 ratings points. However, if the series result is reversed, then South Africa will end up on 116 ratings points and Australia on 113 ratings points.

In the scenario of Australia winning the series 4-1, it will rise to 117 ratings points and South Africa will slip to 112 ratings points, while the Proteas’ victory by the same margin will put it on 118 ratings with the host side dropping to 111 ratings points.

Meanwhile, in the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen, South Africa batsmen AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla occupy the top two positions in the batting table.

In all, there are four Proteas’ batsmen inside the top 20, with the other two being eighth-ranked placed Quinton de Kock and 11th placed Francois du Plessis.

George Bailey is the highest-ranked Australia batsman in fourth place, while the returning Shane Watson lies in 15th place, six points adrift of Sri Lanka’s Mathews. Australia captain Michael Clarke is the other batsman featuring inside the top 20 in 17th position.

On the Reliance ICC Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers, third-ranked South Africa paceman Dale Steyn will be looking to reduce Sunil Narine’s 38-point gap. The other South Africa bowlers inside the top 20 include Ryan McLaren (11th), Morne Morkel (14th) and leg-spinner Imran Tahir (19th).

Mitchell Johnson is Australia’s highest-ranked bowler in fifth spot and has England’s James Anderson in his sight.

Forthcoming fixtures:

India v Sri Lanka
13 Nov – Fourth ODI, Kolkata
16 Nov – Fifth ODI, Ranchi

Australia v South Africa

14 Nov – First ODI, Perth
16 Nov – Second ODI, Perth
19 Nov – Third ODI, Canberra
21 Nov – Fourth ODI, Melbourne
23 Nov – Fifth ODI, Sydney

Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 12 November, after the third ODI between India and Sri Lanka, and ahead of Australia-South Africa series)

1          India                116   

2          South Africa   115   

3          Australia         114   

4          Sri Lanka        111   

5          England          107   

6          Pakistan           98     

7          New Zealand   96     

8          West Indies     96     

9          Bangladesh      69     

10        Zimbabwe       58     

11        Afghanistan     42     

12        Ireland             33     

Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 12 November, after the third ODI between India and Sri Lanka, and ahead of Australia-South Africa series):

Batsmen

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points    Ave        HS Rating

   1         ( - )        AB de Villiers     SA         883       51.02    885 v SL at Hambantota 2014

   2         ( - )        Hashim Amla      SA         855       54.43    901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

   3         ( - )        Virat Kohli          Ind         843       51.30    886 v Ban at Fatullah 2014

   4         ( - )        George Bailey     Aus        802       46.61    867 v SA at Harare 2014

   5         (+4)       Shikhar Dhawan  Ind         785!      45.46    785 v SL at Hyderabad 2014

   6         (-1)        K. Sangakkara     SL          784       39.99    853 v Afg at Mirpur 2014

   7         (-1)        MS Dhoni            Ind         746       52.85    836 v Aus at Delhi 2009

   8         (-1)        Quinton de Kock SA         739*     45.00    747 v Zim at Harare 2014

   9         (-2)        T. Dilshan            SL          732       37.95    767 v Pak at Sharjah 2013

  10        ( - )        Ross Taylor         NZ         702       40.07    713 v Ind at Wellington 2014

  11        ( - )        F. du Plessis        SA         699       35.90    703 v NZ at Bay Oval 2014

  12        ( - )        K. Williamson     NZ         678       39.51    688 v Ind at Wellington 2014

  13        ( - )        Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        674       43.07    744 v SL at Fatullah 2014

  14        ( - )        Angelo Mathews SL          655       38.74    664 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2014

  15=      (+1)       Shane Watson      Aus        649       41.06    773 v SL at Hambantota 2011

              ( - )        Suresh Raina       Ind         649       36.00    669 v Eng at Dharamsala 2013

  17        ( - )        Michael Clarke    Aus        648       45.06    750 v SL at Melbourne 2008

  18        ( - )        Ahmed Shehzad  Pak        645       34.40    670 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

  19        ( - )        M. Hafeez            Pak        636       30.98    665 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

  20        ( - )        Eoin Morgan       Ire/Eng  619       38.26    690 v Aus at The Oval 2010

Selected Rankings

Rank    (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points     Ave        HS Rating

  23        ( - )        Glenn Maxwell    Aus        617*     32.80    634 v Zim at Harare 2014

  39        ( - )        David Warner      Aus        574       32.15    589 v Eng at Lord's 2012

  43        ( - )        Aaron Finch         Aus        562*     35.13    582 v SA at Harare 2014

  48        ( - )        David Miller        SA         531       29.68    568 v Aus at Harare 2014

  92        ( - )        Mitchell Marsh   Aus        429*     37.28    435 v SA at Harare 2014

  93        ( - )        Steven Smith       Aus        426*!    25.65    426 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2014

Bowlers

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points    Ave        Econ      HS Rating

   1         ( - )        Saeed Ajmal        Pak        770       22.18    4.13      810 v SA at Centurion 2013

   2         ( - )        Sunil Narine        WI         753       26.49    4.10      791 v SL at Jamaica 2013

   3         ( - )        Dale Steyn           SA         715       25.52    4.80      746 v Ind at Durban 2013

   4         ( - )        James Anderson  Eng        690       29.10    4.94      719 v SA at The Oval 2013

   5         ( - )        M. Johnson          Aus        680       25.68    4.82      724 v Ban at Darwin 2008

   6=       (+2)       M.Hafeez             Pak        647       35.01    4.06      769 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

              (+1)       B. Kumar             Ind         647       36.59    4.60      657 v WI at Dharamsala 2014

   8         (-2)        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         645       32.29    4.79      738 v Zim at Bulawayo 2013

   9=       ( - )        Steven Finn         Eng        640       28.41    4.74      755 v NZ at Auckland 2013

              ( - )        Clint McKay        Aus        640       24.37    4.78      709 v Eng at Cardiff 2013

  11        (+1)       Ryan McLaren     SA         630       25.46    5.16      681 v Zim at Bulawayo 2014

  12        (+1)       James Tredwell   Eng        629*     25.85    4.77      642 v Ind at Trent Bridge 2014

  13        (+1)       L. Tsotsobe          SA         628       24.96    4.75      743 v NZ at Auckland 2012

  14        (+1)       Morne Morkel     SA         625       24.35    4.88      717 v SL at East London 2012

  15        (-4)        Rangana Herath   SL          623       31.85    4.36      703 v SA at Pallekele 2013

  16=      (+2)       R. Ashwin            Ind         620       32.53    4.88      691 v SL at Hambantota 2012

              (+1)       Kyle Mills           NZ         620       26.82    4.73      722 v Aus at Melbourne 2009

  18        (-2)        M. Shami             Ind         615       26.08    5.74      636 v WI at Delhi 2014

  19        (+1)       Imran Tahir         SA         609*     18.78    4.22      612 v NZ at Bay Oval 2014

  20=      (+1)       Tim Southee        NZ         608       31.67    5.18      633 v Eng at Lord's 2013

              (+1)       Kemar Roach       WI         608       26.85    4.90      650 v Pak at St Lucia 2013

Selected Rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points    Ave        Econ      HS Rating

  42        ( - )        Wayne Parnell     SA         528       29.92    5.49      534 v Zim at Bulawayo 2014

  53        ( - )        Shane Watson      Aus        477       30.26    4.87      620 v WI at St Lucia 2012

  71        (-3)        Robin Peterson    SA         429       37.20    4.89      575 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

  77        (+1)       V. Philander        SA         407*!    24.19    4.39      407 v NZ at Hamilton 2014

  91        (-2)        Glenn Maxwell    Aus        374*     43.21    5.41      377 v Pak at Sharjah 2014

  92        (-2)        N. Coulter-Nile   Aus        371*     33.00    5.26      386 v Eng at Adelaide 2014

All-rounders

Rank     (+/-)       Player                 Team     Points    HS Rating

   1         ( - )        M. Hafeez            Pak        411       438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

   2         ( - )        Angelo Mathews SL          374       387 v Pak at Dambulla 2014

   3         ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        361       453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

   4         ( - )        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         343       378 v Eng at Edgbaston 2013

   5         ( - )        T. Dilshan            SL          324       373 v NZ at Hambantota 2013

*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.
!indicates career-highest rating