Australia and England have consolidated their positions on the ICC ODI Team Rankings after completing identical 4-1 series victories over their respective oppositions in the series which ended on Sunday.
Australia scored a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the final match in Pallekele, while Pakistan earned a four-wicket consolation victory in the final match of the series in Cardiff. However, the Cardiff victory was not enough to prevent the green shirts from plummeting to its lowest-ever rating of 86 and in serious danger of failing to qualify automatically for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Australia, which will aim to reclaim the ICC Champions Trophy title to add to its World Cup trophy, when it is staged next year in the United Kingdom, has moved from 123 points to 124 points, and in doing so, has opened up an 11-point advantage over New Zealand.
Sri Lanka has retained its sixth position but has dropped a point to finish on 101 points. Sri Lanka’s one-point drop will interest seventh-placed Bangladesh, which is now just three points behind its Asian rival and has two upcoming three-match ODI series each against Afghanistan and England coming up. If Bangladesh wins all the three matches against Afghanistan, plus manages a series win against England, then it will achieve its highest-ever ranking of sixth.
Meanwhile, England, which will attempt to win its maiden 50-over ICC title when it hosts next year’s ICC Champions Trophy, has sent out a warning to the other sides after its impressive series win against Pakistan.
The series result against Pakistan has seen England move from 106 points to 107 points in fifth position – three behind India and South Africa, who are at 110 points each with India ranked ahead of South Africa on decimal points.
As for Pakistan, it has fallen to its lowest-ever points tally since the current rankings system was introduced in 2001. It started the series on 87 points and is now on 86 points – eight points behind eighth-ranked West Indies.
With Pakistan’s forthcoming ODI series being against the West Indies and Australia, it has left itself with a mountain to climb to keep alive its chances of qualifying automatically for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
England and the seven highest-ranked sides on the ICC ODI Team Rankings as on 30 September 2017 will qualify directly for the ICC’s pinnacle 50-over tournament, while the remaining two sides will progress from the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018.
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Australia | 124 (+1) |
| 2 | New Zealand | 113 |
| 3 | India | 110 |
| 4 | South Africa | 110 |
| 5 | England | 107 (+1) |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 101 (-1) |
| 7 | Bangladesh | 98 |
| 8 | West Indies | 94 |
| 9 | Pakistan | 86 (-1) |
| 10 | Afghanistan | 49 |
| 11 | Zimbabwe | 46 |
| 12 | Ireland | 43 |
England batsman Joe Root has surged into the top five of the MRF Tyres ICC Players Rankings for ODI batsmen for the first time after a stellar performance against Pakistan, which earned him the player of the series award.
The 25-year-old scored 274 runs in the series, which helped him leapfrog New Zealand’s duo of Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill as well as India batsman Rohit Sharma into fourth position in the latest player rankings.
During the series, the Yorkshireman also achieved a career-best rating of 776 points, which he had attained after the third ODI at Trent Bridge in which he scored 85.
Root in one of the four England batsmen to make upward movement following a 4-1 series win over Pakistan.
Alex Hales has risen four places to reach 20th spot after aggregating 223 runs in the series, including a belligerent 171 in the third ODI, captain Eoin Morgan has gained four places and is now in 24th spot, while Jason Roy’s series contribution of 181 runs have helped him rise 10 places to share 35th spot with Dinesh Chandimal, who himself has moved up 15 places following a good series with the bat against Australia.
The good news for Pakistan was the movement of its captain Azhar Ali and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed.
Azhar’s 208 runs in the series has seen him move up 15 places to 33rd rank, while Sarfraz, who was the highest run-getter in the series from either side with 300 runs, has moved up 21 places to 39th position.
Sarfraz had a productive series with the bat when he scored 55, 105, 38, 12 and 90 in the series.
Azhar and Sarfraz are the only two Pakistan batsmen, who featured in the recent series against England, to figure inside the top 50. The next highest Pakistan batsman is Shoaib Malik in 67th spot.
Australia, which scripted a similar 4-1 series win over Sri Lanka, saw Aaron Finch and George Bailey move up two and three places, respectively. Finch is now in 15th position while Bailey claims 17th spot.
Bailey finished the series as the most successful batsman with 270 runs, which later earned him the player of the series award, 34 runs more than Chandimal who ended up in 35th spot after rising 15 places.
AB de Villiers of South Africa is the number-one ranked ODI batsman, and he is followed by India’s Virat Kohli and team-mate Hashim Amla, in second and third positions, respectively.
In the ICC Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers, Australia fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, James Faulkner and John Hastings have made significant gains after their performances in Sri Lanka.
Starc’s 12 wickets in the series have seen him move up from fifth to third place, Faulkner’s 10 wickets have helped him gain 15 places to reach 18th position, while Hastings has vaulted 22 places to achieve a career-best 24th rank following nine wickets in three matches.
In the series between England and Pakistan, the home side’s Adil Rashid has broken into the top 10 for the first time, while fast bowler Chris Woakes has carried his Test form into limited overs cricket by entering the top 20 for the first time.
Rashid has been rewarded for his eight wickets in the series with a rise of six places that has put him in 10th position, while Woakes has climbed 13 places to 16th after finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the series with nine wickets.
Batsmen (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Average | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | AB de Villiers | South Africa | 887 | 53.63 | 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Virat Kohli | India | 813 | 51.51 | 886 v BAN at Fatullah 2014 |
| 3 | ( – ) | Hashim Amla | South Africa | 778 | 51.97 | 901 v ENG at Trent Bridge 2012 |
| 4 | (+3) | Joe Root | England | 758! | 45.71 | 776 v PAK at Trent Bridge 2016 |
| 5 | (-1) | K. Williamson | New Zealand | 752 | 47.00 | 798 v SA at Centurion 2015 |
| 6 | (-1) | Martin Guptill | New Zealand | 751! | 43.25 | 751 v AUS at Hamilton 2016 |
| 7 | (-1) | Rohit Sharma | India | 750 | 42.08 | 761 v AUS at Sydney 2016 |
| 8 | ( – ) | Shikhar Dhawan | India | 737 | 43.97 | 794 v SA at Melbourne 2015 |
| 9 | ( – ) | Q. de Kock | South Africa | 735 | 41.83 | 789 v ENG at Centurion 2016 |
| 10= | (+1) | Faf du Plessis | New Zealand | 716 | 40.56 | 730 v AUS at Barbados 2016 |
| ( – ) | TM. Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 716 | 39.27 | 802 v SCO at Hobart 2015 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Average | Highest Rating |
| 15= | (+2) | Aaron Finch | Australia | 698 | 37.34 | 743 v ENG at Melbourne 2015 |
| 17 | (+3) | George Bailey | Australia | 695 | 42.50 | 867 v SA at Harare 2014 |
| 20 | (+4) | Alex Hales | England | 656* | 37.77 | 666 v PAK at Trent Bridge 2016 |
| 24 | (+6) | Eoin Morgan | ENG/IRE | 611 | 37.18 | 690 v AUS at The Oval 2010 |
| 33 | (+15) | Azhar Ali | Pakistan | 582*! | 40.50 | 582 v ENG at Cardiff 2016 |
| 35= | (+15) | D. Chandimal | Sri Lanka | 569 | 34.46 | 667 v AUS at Adelaide 2012 |
| (+10) | Jason Roy | England | 569*! | 39.07 | 569 v PAK at Cardiff 2016 | |
| 39 | (+21) | Sarfraz Ahmed | Pakistan | 560! | 32.83 | 560 v ENG at Cardiff 2016 |
Bowlers (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Average | Eco | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Sunil Narine | West Indies | 759 | 25.74 | 4.07 | 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Trent Boult | New Zealand | 731* | 22.96 | 4.81 | 745 v AUS at Auckland 2016 |
| 3 | (+2) | Mitchell Starc | Australia | 711 | 19.61 | 4.78 | 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015 |
| 4 | (-1) | Shakib Al Hasan | Bangaladesh | 699 | 27.89 | 4.30 | 717 v ZIM at Chittagong 2009 |
| 5 | (-1) | Imran Tahir | South Africa | 693 | 23.13 | 4.64 | 735 v SL at Sydney 2015 |
| 6 | ( – ) | Matt Henry | New Zealand | 675*! | 22.17 | 5.42 | 675 v AUS at Hamilton 2016 |
| 7= | ( – ) | Dale Steyn | South Africa | 645 | 25.93 | 4.86 | 746 v IND at Durban 2013 |
| ( – ) | Kagiso Rabada | South Africa | 645*! | 21.45 | 4.78 | 645 v WI at Barbados 2016 | |
| 9 | ( – ) | Morne Morkel | South Africa | 628 | 24.6 | 4.95 | 717 v SL at East London 2012 |
| 10 | (+6) | Adil Rashid | England | 609* | 40.21 | 5.66 | 612 v PAK at Headingley 2016 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Average | Eco | Highest Rating |
| 16 | (+13) | Chris Woakes | England | 578 | 33.7 | 5.65 | 591 v PAK at Trent Bridge 2016 |
| 18 | (+15) | James Faulkner | Australia | 570 | 31.07 | 5.47 | 585 v NZ at Melbourne 2015 |
| 24 | (+22) | John Hastings | Australia | 551*! | 28.51 | 4.70 | 551 v SL at Pallekele 2016 |
| 27 | (+6) | A.Mathews | Sri Lanka | 543 | 34.04 | 4.63 | 649 v IND at Trinidad 2013 |
| 48 | (+25) | Liam Plunkett | England | 476* | 34.03 | 5.95 | 493 v WI at Trent Bridge 2007 |
