England move up to fifth in ICC ODI rankings
England's series win against Sri Lanka in the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series has helped Eoin Morgan's team swap places with Angelo Mathews's side in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI rankings released on Sunday (July 3). England, who began the series at the sixth position, with 103 points, gained three points from the 3-0 win to move up to the fifth spot, while Sri Lanka dropped down to sixth with a tally of 102 points.
West Indies, who made it to the final of the tri-series where they lost to Australia, retained their seventh place while gaining a seven-point advantage over Pakistan, who are currently ranked eighth. This assumes a bigger significance in terms of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 as hosts England, along with the seven top-ranked teams, will automatically qualify for the showpiece event.
There was no movement in the top-four spots since the last ranking list that was released last Monday (June 27). As per that release, South Africa's failure to reach the final of the recently-concluded tri-series in the Caribbean meant that the AB de Villiers-led team slipped down to the fourth spot. While Australia, the world champions, retained the top-spot, India managed to move up to the third place, based on calculations beyond decimal point, despite being tied with South Africa on 110 points.
In the rankings for batsmen, headed by AB de Villiers, the England trio of Jason Roy, Joe Root and Jos Buttler moved up the chart. Roy, who finished as the highest run-getter (316 runs) of the ODI series against Sri Lanka, jumped 30 places to a career-best 48th spot. Root, who scored 171 runs in the series, moved up three places to seventh, while Buttler's 180 runs in the series helped jump up two spots to 15th.
Among the bowlers, Adil Rashid's six wickets in the series helped him move up to a career-best 18th position on the chart that is topped by West Indies' Sunil Narine. David Willey, who picked up 10 wickets, also reached a career-high, moving up by 15 slots to take the 29th spot.
There were no changes in the top-five list of all-rounders, with Mathews, the Sri Lanka skipper, retaining his third position.
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