An astonishing knock of 176 by de Villiers in the second ODI against Bangladesh in Paarl, which consisted of 15 fours and seven sixes and came off only 104 balls, has also helped South Africa edge India at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings by taking a 2-0 winning lead in the three-match series.
The latest rankings, which take into account the first two matches of the South Africa-Bangladesh series and the first three matches of the ongoing Pakistan-Sri Lanka series in the United Arab Emirates, sees de Villiers climb to the top of the ODI table for the 14th time in his career.
De Villiers, who has leapfrogged Australian David Warner and India captain Virat Kohli, had first attained top position on 30 May 2010 and the number of days he has spent at the top is second most after retired Windies great Vivian Richards. De Villiers has now been at the top for 2,124 days while Richards was number one for 2,306 days.
Other batsmen to move up include Pakistan’s Babar Azam (up two places to a career-best fourth position), the South African pair of Quinton de Kock (up three places to fifth) and Hashim Amla (up two places to ninth), and Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim (up five places to 18th).
Among bowlers, Hasan Ali’s haul of five for 34 in the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, which his team won by seven wickets for a decisive 3-0 lead in the five-match series, has given the pace bowler a big boost in ranking points.
The 23-year-old, who has taken nine wickets in the series so far, has moved up six places to become the fifth bowler at the top of the ODI rankings this year after Trent Boult, Imran Tahir, Kagiso Rabada and Josh Hazlewood.
Outside of the top 20, Sri Lanka’s Suranga Lakmal (up three places to 36th), South Africa’s Andile Phehlukwayo (up 30 places to 52nd) and Bangladesh’s Rubel Hossain (up seven places to 61st) are the other bowlers to move northwards.
Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez is back as the top all-rounder, edging Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan. Hafeez, who first attained top ranking in January 2013, has reached the top spot for the ninth time.
Meanwhile, India will be looking to wrest back the top spot in the team rankings when they take on New Zealand in an upcoming three-match series.
South Africa and India are both on 120 points with South Africa ahead on decimal points. South Africa can reach 121 points if they complete a 3-0 series win over Bangladesh but India will overtake them if they win the opening match against New Zealand, to be played the same day as the last South Africa-Bangladesh match, on 22 October.
If India win that match, they too will be on 121 points but ahead in decimal-point calculation. However, India will have to win the series against New Zealand 3-0 to retain the top spot should South Africa win the last match against Bangladesh.
India v New Zealand ODI series itinerary:
22 October: 1st ODI, Mumbai
25 October: 2nd ODI, Pune
29 October: 3rd ODI, Kanpur
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 20 October, after the first three matches of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka series and the first two matches of the South Africa-Bangladesh series):
Rank Team Points
1. South Africa 120
2. India 120
3. Australia 114
4. England 114
5. New Zealand 111
6. Pakistan 98
7. Bangladesh 92
8. Sri Lanka 84
9. West Indies 77
10. Afghanistan 54
11. Zimbabwe 52
12. Ireland 41
MRF Tyres ICCODI Player Rankings (as on 20 October, after the first three matches of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka series and the first two matches of the South Africa-Bangladesh series):
BATTING (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 (+2) AB de Villiers SA 879 54.25 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015
2 (-1) Virat Kohli Ind 877 55.13 887 v Aus at Kolkata 2017
3 (-1) David Warner Aus 865 44.94 880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017
4 (+2) Babar Azam Pak 833*! 56.30 833 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2017
5= (+3) Quinton de Kock SA 802 45.52 805 v Ban at Kimberley 2017
(-1) Joe Root Eng 802 50.00 808 v Win at Bristol 2017
7 (-2) Rohit Sharma Ind 790! 44.03 790 v Aus at Nagpur 2017
8 (-1) Kane Williamson NZ 779 46.98 798 v SA at Centurion 2015
9 (+2) Hashim Amla SA 770 51.25 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
10 (-1) Faf du Plessis SA 754 42.96 791 v SL at Cape Town 2017
11 (-1) Martin Guptill NZ 749 43.30 789 v SA at Hamilton 2017
12 ( - ) MS Dhoni Ind 738 51.90 836 v Aus at Delhi 2009
13 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 728 43.23 752 v Pak at Sydney 2017
14 ( - ) Shikhar Dhawan Ind 715 44.45 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015
15 ( - ) Ross Taylor NZ 707 44.12 743 v Zim at Harare 2015
16 ( - ) Tamim Iqbal Ban 680 34.32 688 v Aus at The Oval 2017
17 ( - ) Aaron Finch Aus 674 36.56 743 v Eng at Melbourne 2015
18 (+5) Mushfiqur Rahim Ban 667 33.10 671 v Zim at Mirpur 2015
19 (-1) Alex Hales Eng 660 37.89 705 v NZ at Cardiff 2017
20 (-1) Eoin Morgan Eng 650 38.16 690 v Aus at The Oval 2010
BOWLING (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Eco. Highest Rating
1 (+6) Hasan Ali Pak 743*! 20.66 5.19 743 v SL at Abu Dhabi 2017
2 (-1) Imran Tahir SA 726 23.87 4.66 786 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
3 (-1) Josh Hazlewood Aus 714 23.85 4.69 732 v Eng at Edgbaston 2017
4 (-1) Kagiso Rabada SA 703 25.98 5.07 724 v Eng at Lord's 2017
5 (-1) Mitchell Starc Aus 684 20.13 4.81 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
6 (-1) Jasprit Bumrah Ind 671* 22.10 4.75 687 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017
7 (-1) Trent Boult NZ 665 25.48 5.00 766 v Ind at Delhi 2016
8 (-1) Akshar Patel Ind 663*! 29.88 4.36 663 v Aus at Nagpur 2017
9 ( - ) Rashid Khan Afg 647*! 14.74 3.97 647 v Win at St Lucia 2017
10= ( - ) Sunil Narine Win 646 26.46 4.12 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013
( - ) Liam Plunkett Eng 646! 30.22 5.77 646 v Win at Southampton 2017
12 ( - ) Adil Rashid Eng 639 32.02 5.55 655 v Ban at Chittagong 2016
13 ( - ) Chris Woakes Eng 635 31.45 5.58 651 v SA at Headingley 2017
14 ( - ) B. Kumar Ind 626 36.71 4.86 657 v Win at Dharamsala 2014
15 ( - ) Mohammad Nabi Afg 618 32.74 4.29 653 v Zim at Harare 2017
16 ( - ) Mitchell Santner NZ 610* 33.77 4.99 617 v Ban at Dublin 2017
17 ( - ) Matt Henry NZ 606 25.26 5.62 675 v Aus at Hamilton 2016
18 (+1) Morne Morkel SA 590 24.48 4.94 717 v SL at East London 2012
19 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 586 29.70 4.43 717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
20 (+1) Pat Cummins Aus 580 29.24 5.41 588 v Ind at Indore 2017
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 (+1) M. Hafeez Pak 360 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
2 (-1) S. Al Hasan Ban 345 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
3 ( - ) M. Nabi Afg 329 349 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
4 ( - ) Angelo Mathews SL 296 427 v Eng at Colombo (RPS) 2014
5 ( - ) Ben Stokes Eng 293 299 v Win at Bristol 2017
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