The ICC’s latest One-Day International rankings are out and the BLACKCAPS’ hot form against England has been reflected by several players making significant advances.
BLACKCAPS number four batsman Ross Taylor has hit a career-high eighth position individually, following scores of 57, an unbeaten 119 and 110 in the England series to date — the potential decider beginning at 1.00am NZT tonight at Trent Bridge.
His ally Kane Williamson has moved up, too, by one slot to sixth after consecutive scores of 45, 93 and 118 at first drop.
And, while it’s been a tough week on the injury front for Trent Boult, the popular left-armer can take comfort in having reached a new career-best ranking amongst the world’s ODI bowlers, his six wickets for a miserly 108 runs against England lifting him up three spots.
For Boult it's been a continuation on his stong impact with the white ball, having been selected for the ICC Cricket World Cup Team of the Tournament and now in official joint second place in the world, alongside South Africa’s Imran Tahir. However, he has now returned to New Zealand for further assessment of a stress-related injury to his back.
Like Boult, Tim Southee took strong Test form into the current ODIs. Photos: PHOTOSPORT
Fellow BLACKCAPS pace bowlers Tim Southee (up one to 19th) and Matt Henry (up by 12 places to 53rd) are also on the rise and, with the fourth (Trent Bridge) and fifth (Chester-le-Street) ODIs still to come, there’s an opportunity for the active BLACKCAPS to push themselves to higher spots still.
Reliance ICC ODI Championship table after the first three England v BLACKCAPS ODIs
Rank Team Points
1 Australia 129
2 India 117
3 BLACKCAPS 115
4 South Africa 112
5 Sri Lanka 106
6 England 95
7 West Indies 88
8 Bangladesh 88
9 Pakistan 87
10 Ireland 50
11 Zimbabwe 44
12 Afghanistan 41
Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings
Batsmen
1 ( - ) AB de Villiers South Africa
2 ( - ) K. Sangakkara Sri Lanka
3 ( - ) Hashim Amla South Africa
4 ( - ) Virat Kohli India
5 ( - ) T. Dilshan Sri Lanka
6 (+1) Kane Williamson BLACKCAPS
7 (-1) Shikhar Dhawan India
8 (+3) Ross Taylor BLACKCAPS
9 (-1) MS Dhoni India
10 (-1) Glenn Maxwell Australia
(also)
22 ( - ) Brendon McCullum
24 (-3) Martin Guptill
37 (-1) Luke Ronchi
38 (-4) Corey Anderson
47 (-4) Grant Elliott
Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team
1 ( - ) Mitchell Starc Australia
2= (+3) Trent Boult BLACKCAPS
( - ) Imran Tahir South Africa
4 (-1) Dale Steyn South Africa
5 (-1) Sunil Narine West Indies
6 (-1) Mitchell Johnson Australia
7 ( - ) Saeed Ajmal Pakistan
8 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Bangladesh
9 (+1) Morne Morkel South Africa
10 (-1) James Anderson England
(also)
19 (+1) Tim Southee
44 (-9) Mitchell McClenaghan
53 (+12) Matt Henry
