ICC ODI ranking: Sri Lanka pips South Africa for third place

Sri Lanka and Ireland have gained a place each in the Reliance ICC ODI Championship table after 22 matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

Sri Lanka has moved ahead of South Africa in third place after Sunday’s six-run defeat against England meant the Proteas conceded two ratings points which has dropped them one point behind Kumar Sangakkara’s side on 116 ratings points.

Ireland has moved into 10th position after it stunned England to defeat by three runs in a high-scoring thriller in Bengaluru last Wednesday. This victory earned it six ratings point which has put it six points clear of Zimbabwe on 43 rating points.

However, with plenty of cricket still to be played in ICC’s flagship event, it is expected that there will be a few more reshuffles in the middle of the table by the time the final is played on 2 April. Nevertheless, Australia’s number-one position seems to be fairly secure as it leads second-placed India by a comfortable 12-point margin.

Meanwhile, England batsman Jonathan Trott and Ireland’s fast bowler Trent Johnston have achieved career-best rankings in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings.

Trott, who is the fourth leading run-getter behind Andrew Strauss (280), AB de Villiers (266) and Kumar Sangakkara (241) with 222 runs, has vaulted nine places following his scores of 92 against Ireland and 52 against South Africa last week. He now shares 13th position with India’s Gautam Gambhir.

Other batsmen moving in the right direction include Sangakkara in sixth (up by two places), Michael Clarke in 10th (up by two places), Chris Gayle in 12th (up by three places), Ricky Ponting in 18th (up by one place), Yuvraj Singh in 22nd (up by one place), Cameron White in 24th (up by three places), Brendon McCullum in 28th (up by five places), Martin Guptill in 30th (up by 12 places), Umar Akmal in 38th (up by two places), and Kevin O’Brien in 40th (up by 12 places).

South Africa’s duo of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers continue to occupy the top two positions with India’s Virat Kohli in third place.

Johnston, a former Ireland captain, has so far taken six wickets, including 2-58 against England and 2-16 against India in the last two matches. As such, has rocketed eight places to claim 12th position in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers.

Other bowlers to make upward movements are Graeme Swann in fourth (up by three places), Nuwan Kulasekara in sixth (up by three places), Stuart Broad in 10th (up by three places), Kyle Mills in 15th (up by four places), James Anderson in 19th (up by five places), Muttiah Muralidaran in 22nd (up by three places), Shaun Tait in 26th (up by three places) and Tim Southee in 28th (up by eight places).

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori leads South Africa’s Morne Morkel by 22 ratings points with Zimbabwe’s Ray Price in third position, just two ratings points ahead of Swann.

The only change in the top five of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders is the return of Vettori in fifth place. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan leads the field with Shane Watson of Australia in second, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi in third and Jacques Kallis of South Africa in fourth.