KARACHI: South Africa has benefitted the most following its 2-1 success over New Zealand in the just-concluded series as it has claimed third position on the ICC ODI rankings, while its wrist-spinner Imran Tahir has returned into the top three of the ICC player rankings for ODI bowlers.

In the series between the third and fourth-ranked sides, South Africa had started on 109 points as compared to New Zealand’s 110 points.

However, the 2-1 series win means South Africa has moved to third on 110 points while New Zealand has dropped to fourth on 109 points, said an International Cricket Council news release issued on Thursday.

Imran Tahir, who started the series in fifth spot, has returned to the top three in second place after rising three places following his five wickets in the series.

While forcing his way up the order, Imran has pushed his team-mate and former world number-two Dale Steyn into fifth position (down by one spot).

New Zealand’s Adam Milne and David Wiese of South Africa, who also finished with Imran Tahir as the joint-leading wicket-takers, have made impressive gains. Milne has vaulted 30 places to 43rd in the latest rankings, which were released on Thursday morning, while Wiese has entered in 232nd spot.

In the ICC player rankings for ODI batsmen, top-scorer Tom Latham is the biggest mover. The left-handed opener’s series contribution of 178 runs has helped him lift 32 places to 74th.

AB de Villiers has retained his number-one position on the table but third-ranked Hashim Amla has been able to reduce the gap from 83 points to 45 points following his series contribution of 176 runs as compared to de Villiers’ 104 runs in three matches.

Amla will move into second position when Kumar Sangakkara is removed from the list in the next update.

ODI team rankings:

1 Australia 129, 2 India 115, 3 South Africa 110, 4 New Zealand 109, 5 Sri Lanka 103, 6 England 98, 7 Bangladesh 96, 8 Pakistan 90, 9 West Indies 88, 10 Ireland 50, 11 Zimbabwe 45, 12 Afghanistan 41.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2015

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