South Africa can go top of the ICC ODI Championship if it beats Pakistan in the fifth and final ODI in Johannesburg on Wednesday and New Zealand has a series win over Australia in the three-match Chappell-Hadlee series which starts in Wellington on Friday.
The Proteas currently lie just three ratings points behind Ricky Ponting's team and can now arrest the ICC ODI Championship shield from the Australians' grasp for the first time since the current format of the rankings was introduced in 2002.
Should South Africa beat Pakistan at the Wanderers it will move up to 128 points and if the Black Caps can win their series 3-0 or 2-1, Australia will drop to second in the ICC ODI Championship for the first time.
It has been a steady move upwards by South Africa in the past 12 months or so. Since it failed to reach the final of the tri-series in Australia in the 2005-6 season, it has enjoyed a remarkable turn around. Early last year, it beat Australia 3-2 in a thrilling home ODI series, with that amazing run chase of 438 coming in the final match in Johannesburg.
It also made the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy in India and since being outplayed by Australia and Sri Lanka in that 2005-6 tri-series it has won 14 ODIs and lost just five, including a 4-0 series win over India.
In a tightly packed table, there could be plenty of other movements in the ICC ODI Championship in the build up to the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies.
New Zealand could move up to third with a good showing in the Chappell-Hadlee series while India could drop as low as sixth if it loses its two remaining ODIs in the current series with Sri Lanka.
England is another team on the move up the ICC ODI Championship.
Winning the recent ODI tri-series with New Zealand and Australia has given the English a timely boost ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup and although it still languishes in seventh place on the table, there are signs that it is experiencing something of a resurgence.
Bangladesh will also be carrying some confidence into the next month or so as it just yesterday completed a 3-1 series win over Zimbabwe in Harare.
Just six points separate England in seventh with Pakistan in third so it is very much all to play for as teams make their final preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup, which opens in Jamaica on March 11.
No comments:
Post a Comment