ICC Media Release:

South Africa looks to close the gap on Australia in LG ICC ODI Championship table; West Indies could finish series in fifth position; Pollock set to retire on a high; Smith and Gibbs aim to break into top five while Ntini and Taylor attempt to strengthen positions in leading bowlers’ list

Fresh from its 2-1 victory over the West Indies in the Test series, South Africa will aim for another convincing performance over Chris Gayle’s side in the five-match ODI series that will help it close the gap on Australia in the LG ICC ODI Championship table.

South Africa, trailing front-runners Australia by six points, will net three ratings points if its sweeps the series 5-0. That will put it on 127 points, just three behind Australia and 15 ahead of third-placed New Zealand.

A 4-1 win will ensure the Proteas stay on 124 ratings points while they will lose two points in case of a 3-2 result. Whatever maybe the outcome of the series, South Africa will still finish on second position on the Championship table.

West Indies, in sharp contrast, will leapfrog Sri Lanka, Pakistan and England into fifth position if it sweeps the series. For a 5-0 result, West Indies will pocket nine ratings points putting it one ahead of Sri Lanka and two ahead of Pakistan and England.

West Indies will still make progress in the right direction even if wins the series 4-1. It will join Pakistan and England in sixth place on 107 points but will remain behind the two teams when ratings points are calculated beyond the decimal point.

This series will also bring the curtain down on Shaun Pollock’s illustrious career. The 34-year-old all-rounder has so far played 298 ODIs and in the process he has taken 387 wickets and scored 4,014 runs.

Pollock is certain to sign-off on top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers and LG ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders.

In the bowlers’ list, the former South Africa captain leads New Zealand’s Shane Bond by a comfortable margin while in the all-rounders’ category, Pollock is way ahead of Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya.

Besides Pollock, South Africa has Makhaya Ntini in ninth place and Andre Nel in 16th spot among the top 20 bowlers.

Ntini trails New Zealand’s Kyle Mills and Australia’s Brett Lee by 22 points and will be hoping to leapfrog the two into seventh place while Nel on 632 points has Australia’s Brad Hogg, England’s Andrew Flintoff, West Indies’ Daren Powell and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga well within his sights with 25 points separating Nel from 12th placed Hogg.

Powell’s team-mate Jerome Taylor in 10th place is the West Indies’ highest-ranked bowler. He trails Ntini by just one point and, like the South African fast bowler, can make the upward movement if he succeeds in repeating the performance he put in against Zimbabwe late last year when he took 11 wickets in four matches and jumped 13 places to break into the top 10 for the first time.

Fidel Edwards and vice-captain Dwayne Bravo are currently ranked 42nd and 43rd respectively and they will view this series as an opportunity to improve upon that.

In the batting charts, Herschelle Gibbs and captain Graeme Smith will be attempting to break in the top five. Smith is currently ranked sixth, just one point behind Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf while Gibbs is another six points behind in joint-seventh place with India’s Sachin Tendulkar.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the highest-ranked West Indies batsman, in 10th place, just two points adrift Australia’s Mike Hussey while Gayle is ranked 14th in what is a closely packed section of the rankings.

The schedule for the South Africa– West Indies ODI series is as follows:
20 January – first ODI, Centurion
25 January – second ODI, Cape Town
27 January – third ODI, Port Elizabeth
1 February – fourth ODI, Durban
3 February – fifth ODI, Johannesburg

LG ICC ODI Championship (as of 18 January)

Rank   Team                           Rating

1          Australia                       130
2          South Africa                  124
3          New Zealand                112
4          India                             110
5          Sri Lanka                      108
6          Pakistan                       107
7          England                        107
8          West Indies                  100
9          Bangladesh                    47
10        Ireland                           28
11        Zimbabwe                      20
12        Kenya                              0

(Various scenarios (before the start of South Africa – West Indies ODI series)

If SA wins 5-0 = SA 127 ratings points; WI 96 ratings points
If SA wins 4-1 = SA 124, WI 99
If SA wins 3-2 = SA 122, WI 102
If WI wins 5-0 = WI 109, SA 115
If WI wins 4-1 = WI 107, SA 117
If WI wins 3-2 = WI 104, SA 119