England retains No.2 spot on Reliance ICC ODI Championship

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Brendon McCullum back in top 10 of ODI batters, Steven Finn now No. 3 ODI bowler. 100 days to go to the start of ICC Champions Trophy 2013

 

England’s 2-1 win in the three-match series against New Zealand has not only given it a perfect build-up to the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, which is just 100 days away, but has also kept it on course for finishing second in the Reliance ICC ODI Championship Table at the 1 April cut-off date.

England’s come-from-behind series win means it has retained second place but has dropped two ratings points to now lead third-ranked Australia by just one ratings point and fourth-ranked South Africa by five ratings points. India has taken an outright lead on top of the table with 119 ratings points.

With India and Australia not scheduled to play any ODIs before the cut-off date, South Africa is the only side that can push India and England down the order when it takes on Pakistan in a five-ODI series from 10 March.

The only way South Africa can leapfrog England and add another US$75,000 to its account is by beating Pakistan 4-1 or better. If South Africa wins 4-1, then the Proteas will join England on 117 ratings points but will be ranked above Alastair Cook’s side when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

If South Africa makes a clean sweep of the ODI series, then it will jump three places to claim top spot, which, in turn will mean it will win US$175,000 as well as the ODI shield. These two are presented to the side that tops the ODI table at the 1 April cut-off date.

To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the Championship Table, please click here. The ODI and T20I Championship tables, unlike the Test Championship Table, are updated after every match.

Build-up to the ICC Champions Trophy

Reverting to the New Zealand-England ODI series, this was the penultimate series for both sides before they meet again in England in May as a precursor to the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, which will be staged from 6 to 23 June in England and Wales.

The two sides will then meet again during the group stage of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.  Group A of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 includes defending champion Australia, 2000 winner New Zealand and 2002 champion Sri Lanka, along with host England, which reached the final when it last staged the event in 2004.

Sides in Group B are 1998 winner South Africa, 2004 champion West Indies, 2002 winner India, and Pakistan.

The tournament opener at the ICC Champions Trophy will feature two former winners, when South Africa takes on India in Cardiff on 6 June. The following day, West Indies will face Pakistan at The Oval.

The semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 will be staged at The Oval (19 June) and in Cardiff (20 June), while Edgbaston will be the venue of the final, to be played on 23 June. 

 

Brendon McCullum back among top 10 ODI batsmen

Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has returned to the top 10 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen after scoring 222 runs in the three-match series against England. McCullum has moved up 16 places to ninth, thereby also achieving a career-best 685 ratings points.

Also breaking into the top 20 is former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor. The right-handed batsman has jumped four places to 13th in the latest rankings, which were released on Monday after the ODI series between England and New Zealand and the first two ODIs between West Indies and Zimbabwe.

The most impressive gain in the batting table is England’s Joe Root, who has jumped 61 places to 55th. 

The batting table is still headed by South Africa’s Hashim Amla, followed by his captain AB de Villiers in second place and India’s Virat Kohli in third place.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, England fast bowler Steven Finn has jumped two places to third with a best-ever 755 ratings points.

The only other England bowler to move upwards in the top 20 is England’s James Anderson. Anderson was the highest wicket-taker in the three-match series against New Zealand with seven scalps, and he moved up nine places to 11th.

The bowlers’ table is still headed by Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal. West Indies’ Sunil Narine has moved up a place to second with a career-best 766 ratings points.

The Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders is still headed by Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez, with Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan in second place and Shane Watson of Australia in third.

Reliance ICC ODI Championship (as on 25 February) (after New Zealand-England ODI series and second ODI between West Indies-Zimbabwe)

Rank    Team            Rating

1          India                 119

2          England            117

3         Australia            116

4         South Africa      112

5          Sri Lanka           110

6          Pakistan             107

7          West Indies         85

8          New Zealand       82

9          Bangladesh          78

10        Zimbabwe           48

11        Ireland                 35

12        Netherlands        16

13        Kenya                11

Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 25 February after New Zealand-England ODI series and second ODI between West Indies-Zimbabwe)

Batsmen

Rank    (+/-)       Player                 Team      Pts          Ave       HS Ranking

  1           ( – )          Hashim Amla       SA           886         58.70     901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

  2           ( – )          AB de Villiers        SA           834         48.82     852 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012

  3           ( – )          Virat Kohli            Ind          812         49.43     866 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2012

  4           ( – )          MS Dhoni              Ind          784         51.85     836 v Aus at Delhi 2009

  5           ( – )          Jonathan Trott     Eng         753         50.61     781 v Ind at Mumbai 2011

  6           ( – )          K Sangakkara      SL           728         38.56     781 v Ind at Colombo (RPS) 2012

  7           ( – )          Alastair Cook       Eng         710         40.26     752 v Aus at Lord’s 2012

  8           ( – )          Shane Watson      Aus         691        42.13     773 v SL at Hambantota 2011

  9           (+16)      B McCullum         NZ          685!       31.05     685 v Eng at Auckland 2013

 10         (-1)          T Dilshan               SL           683         35.74     765 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2011

 11         (-1)          Michael Clarke    Aus         676         44.69     750 v SL at Melbourne 2008

 12         (-1)          Suresh Raina        Ind          669!       36.98     669 v Eng at Dharamsala 2013

 13         (+4)         Ross Taylor          NZ          667         38.25     693 v Aus at Adelaide 2009

 14         (-1)          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        666         35.63     683 v Pak at Mirpur 2012

 15         (-1)          Umar Akmal        Pak         665         37.75     702 v Afg at Sharjah 2012

 16         (-1)          Graeme Smith      SA           657         39.13     784 v Ind at Kolkata 2005

 17         (-1)          Jacques Kallis       SA           654         45.26     817 v WI at Johannesburg 2004

 18         ( – )          Gautam Gambhir                Ind          649         39.68     722 v NZ at Vadodara 2010

 19         ( – )          Eoin Morgan        Ire/Eng   645         39.12     690 v Aus at The Oval 2010

 20         (-8)          Brendan Taylor   Zim         642         34.62     667 v NZ at Napier 2012

Selected Rankings

Rank      (+/-)       Player                 Team      Pts          Ave       HS Ranking

  23         (+1)         Ian Bell                  Eng         627         37.04     702 v Ind at Edgbaston 2007

  29         (+6)         Kane Williamson NZ          602*      36.40     610 v Eng at Napier 2013

  30         (-1)          Kieron Pollard      WI          595         26.73     598 v Aus at Melbourne 2013

  31         (-2)          Kevin Pietersen    Eng         589         41.60     833 v Aus at Antigua 2007

  33         (-2)          Martin Guptill       NZ          587         36.38     684 v Zim at Napier 2012

  41         (+9)         Darren Bravo       WI          556!       32.21     556 v Zim at Grenada 2013

  55         (+61)      Joe Root                                Eng         504*!    81.50     504 v NZ at Auckland 2013

  58         (+2)         R Sarwan              WI          500         42.57     780 v Ind at St Kitts 2006

  63         (+30)      Johnson Charles  WI          493*!    34.72     493 v Zim at Grenada 2013

  70         (-5)          E Chigumbura      Zim         474         23.84     554 v SA at Bulawayo 2007

  74         (-10)       H Masakadza      Zim         461         26.87     566 v Ban at Mirpur 2009

  77         (-4)          Dwayne Bravo     WI          455         23.81     493 v Eng at Ahmedabad 2006

  85         (RE)        Vusi Sibanda        Zim         429         23.81     512 v Pak at Karachi 2008

  86         (-12)       BJ Watling            NZ          426*      29.33     475 v SA at Paarl 2013

  87         (-7)          Rob Nicol              NZ          425*      34.35     483 v WI at St Kitts 2012

  88         (RE)        Craig Ervine          Zim         424*      32.73     443 v Ken at Kolkata 2011

  93         (-5)          N McCullum         NZ          406         19.33     420 v SA at Kimberley 2013

  96         (+11)      Malcolm Waller   Zim         394*!    23.59     394 v WI at Grenada 2013

  98         (-8)          Samit Patel           Eng         391*      32.13     407 v Ind at Kochi 2013

Bowlers

Rank     (+/-)         Player                Team       Pts          Ave      Econ      HS Ranking

   1           ( – )          Saeed Ajmal         Pak         801!       22.41     4.09       801 v Ind at Delhi 2013

   2           (+1)         Sunil Narine          WI          766*!    20.51     3.80       766 v Zim at Grenada 2013

   3           (+2)         Steven Finn           Eng         755*!    26.53     4.60       755 v NZ at Auckland 2013

   4           (-2)          M Hafeez              Pak         753         32.86     4.01       769 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

   5           (-1)          L Tsotsobe            SA           736*      21.29     4.66       743 v NZ at Auckland 2012

   6           ( – )          N Kulasekara       SL           667         32.32     4.61       727 v NZ at Colombo (RPS) 2009

   7           ( – )          Clint McKay         Aus         665         22.22     4.66       680 v WI at Perth 2013

   8           ( – )          Morne Morkel      SA           664         23.33     4.91       717 v SL at East London 2012

   9           ( – )          Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          663!       34.17     4.78       663 v Eng at Dharamsala 2013

  10         ( – )          Abdur Razzak      Ban        657         27.60     4.46       675 v Zim at Chittagong 2010

  11=       (+9)         James Anderson  Eng         647        30.06     4.99       687 v Ban at Dhaka 2003

                ( – )          Lasith Malinga     SL           647         26.38     5.06       675 v Ban at Colombo (RPS) 2007

  13=       (-1)          Kyle Mills              NZ          642         26.29     4.69       722 v Aus at Melbourne 2009

                (+1)         Mitchell Johnson Aus         642         25.17     4.82       724 v Ban at Darwin 2008

                (+1)         R Ashwin               Ind          642         31.63     4.82       691 v SL at Hambantota 2012

  16         ( – )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        639         28.85     4.29       717 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

  17         ( – )          Dale Steyn            SA           629         29.13     5.01       666 v Ind at Nagpur 2011

  18         (-6)          Graeme Swann    Eng         621         27.16     4.53       735 v Ind at Hyderabad 2011

  19         (-1)          Ray Price               Zim         611         35.75     3.94       722 v WI at Guyana 2010

  20         (-2)          Tim Southee         NZ          610         30.41     5.19       623 v SL at Hambantota 2012

Selected Rankings

Rank     (+/-)         Player                Team       Pts          Ave      Econ      HS Ranking

  21         (+6)         Kemar Roach       WI          603         26.48     5.02       634 v Aus at St. Vincent 2012

  33         (-1)          Stuart Broad         Eng         550         27.90     5.19       701 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008

  48       (+13)      Andre Russell       WI          478*      30.30     5.49       500 v NZ at St Kitts 2012

  51         (+1)         N McCullum         NZ          470         50.33     4.86       479 v Eng at Napier 2013

  69         (+2)         Dwayne Bravo     WI          431         30.98     5.32       601 v SA at Antigua 2010

  70         (RE)        C Mpofu               Zim         425         37.85     5.27       476 v Ban at Bulawayo 2011

  84         (+13)      M McClenaghan NZ          383*      19.70     4.96       387 v Eng at Hamilton 2013

  88         (+12)      Tino Best               WI          375*!    32.00     5.38       375 v Zim at Grenada 2013

  91         (+1)         James Franklin     NZ          371         40.01     5.17       535 v SL at Jamaica 2007

All-rounders

Rank    (+/-)          Player                 Team       Pts        HS Ranking

   1           ( – )          M Hafeez              Pak         428        438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013

   2           ( – )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        426        453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009

   3           ( – )          Shane Watson      Aus         380        433 v WI at St Lucia 2012

   4           ( – )          Angelo Mathews  SL           336        337 v Aus at Georgetown 2013

   5           ( – )          Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          333!       333 v Eng at Dharamsala 2013