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South Africa back to fourth spot

May 17, 2005 23:25 IST

South Africa's 5-0 series win in the West Indies sees it climb back into the top four of the ICC ODI Championship for the first time since July 2004. The victory in the Caribbean boosted South Africa's rating by five points to 112.

West Indies went into the series only two points behind South Africa in the ICC table but the comprehensive defeat has seen its rating fall to 98 points, its lowest since November 2002, and its position fall to seventh.

It has been a poor series for the West Indies players too as reflected in Brian Lara's drop of 14 places to 22nd, his lowest one-day rating for four years. Ian Bradshaw was the only West Indies bowler to move up in the top 100 rankings, climbing five places to 17th.

West Indies will have to play really well to beat Pakistan, who have recently beaten India in the six-match ODI series, in its forthcoming series of three ODI matches starting on Wednesday, May 18.

Graeme Smith has achieved his best ever position in the ICC ODI Player Rankings, moving up to third place after South Africa's victory.

Smith replaces Jacques Kallis as the current leading South African one-day batsman.  Boeta Dippenaar ended the series at 15th, while Ashwell Prince climbed 12 places to 51st.

In the bowling, Makhaya Ntini returned to the top ten, while Andre Nel has consolidated his status as a leading international bowler, climbing 20 places to 26th.

The top 10 ODI batsmen and bowlers are listed below.

The ICC ODI Championship table correct on 16 May 2005:

Position Team Rating
1 Australia 140
2 Sri Lanka 117
3 New Zealand 116
4 South Africa 112
5 Pakistan 110
6 England 103
7 West Indies 98
8 India 97
9 Zimbabwe 50
10 Kenya 26
11 Bangladesh 11
Developed by David Kendix

ICC ODI Player Rankings - Batsmen
After West Indies v South Africa series

Rank (Change) Player Team Points Average Highest Ranking
1 ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 759 42.25 796 v Zim at Harare 2004
2 (+1) Adam Gilchrist Aus 724 35.55 829 v SL at Dambulla 2004
3 (+2) Graeme Smith SA 722 40.76 752 v WI at Kingston 2005
4 (-2) R.R.Sarwan WI 717 46.28 753 v Pak at The Rose Bowl 2004
5= (+1) Rahul Dravid Ind 711 40.06 733 v Pak at Manchester 1999
  (+1) Andrew Flintoff Eng 711 35.18 772 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004
7 (+1) K.C.Sangakkara SL 709 33.37 733 v Pak at Lahore 2004
8 (-4) Jacques Kallis SA 708 45.40 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004
9 (+1) Michael Clarke Aus 705 45.45 716 v Pak at Perth 2005
10 (+1) Inzamam-ul-Haq Pak 701 39.92 788 v Eng at Karachi 1996

ICC Test Player Rankings - Bowlers
After West Indies v South Africa series

Rank (Change) Player Team Points Average Economy Highest Ranking
1 ( - ) Glenn McGrath Aus 865 22.05 3.87 925 v SA at Bloemfontein 2002
2 (+1) Chaminda Vaas SL 831 26.21 4.13 899 v SA at Colombo (RPS)
3 (+1) M.Muralitharan SL 830 22.12 3.78 934 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
4 (+1) Brett Lee Aus 819 22.17 4.68 836 v Ind at Sydney 2004
5 (-3) Shaun Pollock SA 805 24.14 3.77 926 v WI at Centurion 2004
6 ( - ) Jason Gillespie Aus 786 23.94 4.11 855 v Pak at Lord's 2004
7 (+4) Makhaya Ntini SA 757 22.85 4.34 824 v Can at East London 2003
8 (-1) Jacob Oram NZ 740 28.57 4.42 803 v Aus at The Oval 2004
9 (-1) Darren Gough Eng 732 25.42 4.31 808 v SA at Johannesburg 2000
10 (-1) Andrew Flintoff Eng 727 23.97 4.20 797 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
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