POSTED: Saturday April 4th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Australia regains number-one spot from Proteas after victory in Durban
Pietersen loses five places in batting rankings as Ponting, Sangakkara and Tendulkar move up; gains in bowling chart for Johnson, Botha and Hopes
Australia has regained the number-one spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship after defeating South Africa by 141 runs in the first ODI of the five-match series in Durban on Friday.
Australia, which surrendered its top position to the Proteas after stand-in captain Johan Botha inspired his side to 4-1 victory in Australia earlier this year, had started the series trailing Graeme Smith’s side by one ratings point. And such is the competitiveness at the top of the table that victory in the first ODI has given Australia a swing of three points as it now sits on 125 with South Africa on 123.
However, South Africa still has a chance to finish the series in number-one position if it wins the series 3-2 or better. On the other hand, to return home with the number-one tag Australia needs to win the series 3-2 or better while a 4-1 victory will put it on 127 ratings points and will drop South Africa to third position behind India on 121.
Meanwhile, England’s 3-2 victory over the West Indies has earned Andrew Strauss’ side one ratings point as it closes the gap with fifth-placed Pakistan to just three. The West Indies has stayed in eighth position on 92.
The news is not all good for England fans though as former captain Kevin Pietersen has slipped five places to 13th position in the latest Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen. Pietersen scored 80 runs in four innings during the five-match series at an average of 20.00.
Pietersen’s fall has pushed other players up the rankings with Ricky Ponting of Australia, Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka and India’s Sachin Tendulkar gaining two places each in the latest rankings.
The batting chart is still headed by India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni followed by Michael Hussey of Australia in second place and West Indies’ Chris Gayle in third.
Pietersen’s team-mate Stuart Broad is another player to lose ground in the latest rankings as he drops five places to 12th spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers.
But the news is better for Australia’s Mitchell Johnson and James Hopes. Johnson gains three places to seventh position in the bowling rankings while Hopes has moved up five places to 13th spot. Another bowler to make a significant move is South Africa vice-captain Johan Botha who gains three places and breaks into the top 10 on the highest rating of his career to date.
Leading bowler is still Nuwan Kulasekara of Sri Lanka, followed closely by Black Cap Kyle Mills, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran and another New Zealander Daniel Vettori, who each gain one place as Australia’s Nathan Bracken slips up.
The top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders remain unchanged with Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh still leading the way from England’s Andrew Flintoff in second.
Remaining matches in South Africa and Australia ODI series
5 April – South Africa v Australia (ODI), Centurion
9 April D/N – South Africa v Australia (ODI), Cape Town
13 April – South Africa v Australia (ODI), Port Elizabeth
17 April – South Africa v Australia (ODI), Johannesburg
Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship (as of 4 April)
Rank Team Rating
1 Australia 125
2 South Africa 123
3 India
4 New Zealand 112
5 Pakistan 111
6 England 108
7 Sri Lanka 105
8 West Indies 92
9 Bangladesh 46
10 Zimbabwe 23
11 Ireland
12 Kenya 0
(Developed by David Kendix)
To see exactly what upcoming results will do to the ICC ODI Championship table go to http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com/
Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Player Rankings (as of 4 April)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Highest Ranking
1 ( - ) MS Dhoni Ind 815 49.26 825 v NZ at Hamilton 2009
2 ( - ) Mike Hussey Aus 814 56.75 863 v NZ at Perth 2007
3 ( - ) Chris Gayle WI 782 40.32 804 v Aus at Mumbai 2006
4 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul WI 778 41.54 793 v Eng at Guyana 2009
5 (-1) Yuvraj Singh Ind 769 37.43 790 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009
6 (+1) Graeme Smith SA 749 40.97 792 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
7 (-1) Virender Sehwag Ind 747 34.32 774 v NZ at Auckland 2003
8 (+1) M.Yousuf Pak 716 43.19 777 v SA at Rawalpindi 2003
9 (+2) Ricky Ponting Aus 705 42.70 832 v NZ at Hobart 2007
10 (+2) K. Sangakkara SL 704 36.33 760 v Ind at Rajkot 2007
11 (+2) S. Tendulkar Ind 703 44.37 887 v Zim at Sharjah 1998
12 (-2) AB de Villiers SA 702 37.10 733 v Ban at Dhaka 2008
13 (-5) Kevin Pietersen Eng 699 46.67 834 v Aus at Antigua 2007
14 (+1) Jacques Kallis SA 691 45.30 816 v WI at Johannesburg 2004
15= (+1) Herschelle Gibbs SA 686 36.02 750 v SL at Durban 2003
(-1) R. Sarwan WI 686 43.70 798 v Ind at St Kitts 2006
17 (-1) Gautam Gambhir Ind 685 38.43 713 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2009
18= (+1) Shoaib Malik Pak 683 35.70 690 v WI at Abu Dhabi 2008
(+1) Salman Butt Pak 683 39.77 698 v SL at Karachi 2009
20 (-2) Andrew Symonds Aus 681 40.34 778 v Ind at Nagpur 2007
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Econ HS Rating
1 ( - ) N. Kulasekara SL 724 26.79 4.41 749 v Pak at Lahore 2009
2 (+1) Kyle Mills NZ 697 26.40 4.68 723 v Aus at Melbourne 2009
3 (+1) M. Muralidaran SL 696 22.79 3.89 913 v NZ at Sharjah 2002
4 (+1) Daniel Vettori NZ 694 32.43 4.17 790 v Eng at Christchurch 2008
5 (-3) Nathan Bracken Aus 691 22.98 4.41 806 v SL at St George\‘s 2007
6 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 687! 30.05 4.02 687 v Zim at Dhaka 2009
7 (+3) Mitchell Johnson Aus 672 25.55 4.83 726 v Ban at Darwin 2008
8 ( - ) M. Mortaza Ban 671 29.82 4.57 678 v Ind at Port-of-Spain 2007
9 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 663 24.38 4.39 755 v Ban at Dhaka 2003
10 (+3) Johan Botha SA 656*! 37.86 4.41 656 v Aus at Durban 2009
11 (+1) Ajantha Mendis SL 655* 13.14 3.94 660 v Ind at Colombo (RPS) 2009
12 (-5) Stuart Broad Eng 653 27.48 5.03 701 v SA at Trent Bridge 2008
13 (+5) James Hopes Aus 652*! 31.24 4.20 652 v SA at Durban 2009
14 (-4) Jerome Taylor WI 644 26.26 4.67 688 v SA at Cape Town 2008
15 (-1) Zaheer Khan Ind 643 29.18 4.86 700 v SA at Dhaka 2003
16 (-1) Umar Gul Pak 640! 25.24 4.92 640 v SL at Lahore 2009
17 (-1) Sohail Tanvir Pak 639* 27.34 4.93 673 v WI at Abu Dhabi 2008
18 (+1) Jacob Oram NZ 626 30.91 4.41 768 v Aus at The Oval 2004
19 (+1) Shahid Afridi Pak 625 35.51 4.63 685 v Ind at Dhaka 2008
20= (+2) Iftikhar Anjum Pak 622 31.25 4.95 639 v SL at Karachi 2009
( - ) Brett Lee Aus 622 22.96 4.71 853 v SA at Melbourne 2006
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Ranking
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 403! 403 v Zim at Dhaka 2009
2 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 353 544 v SL at The Rose Bowl 2004
3= ( - ) Shoaib Malik Pak 340 402 v WI at Brisbane 2005
( - ) Yuvraj Singh Ind 340 348 v NZ at Hamilton 2009
5 (+1) Jacob Oram NZ 335 383 v WI at Queenstown 2008
*Indicates a provisional rating
! Indicates career-best rating
For information on the ICC Player Rankings go to: www.reliancemobileiccrankings.
-ENDS-
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Keywords · ICC · Cricket · Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship
Name: James Fitzgerald
Organization: ICC
Email:
Phone: +971 4 368 8347
URL: http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com
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