ICC rankings: South Africa aim to topple Pakistan in ODI series vs Australia, Know how

South Africa and Australia are set to resume playing One-Day Internationals for the first time since the Champions Trophy. They will be involved in the three-match series starting from August 19 and have a chance to jump up in the ICC ODI team rankings. Australia are placed second alongside New Zealand at the moment with 109 points, while South Africa are in sixth place with 96 rating points. However, the Proteas have a great chance to topple fifth-placed Pakistan in the rankings with a series win over Australia.

How can South Africa improve their ranking?

South Africa have announced a full-strength squad for the ODI series and will need to win the series 3-0 to jump to fifth place in the ICC rankings. According to the team rankings predictor on the official website of ICC, if the Proteas, led by Temba Bavuma, beat the Aussies by a 3-0 margin, they will earn three points to climb to fifth place with 101 points. South Africa cannot afford to lose even a single game in the ODI series if they are to improve their ranking.

At the same time, Pakistan, who are currently in fifth position with 100 points, will slip to sixth place. For the unversed, they recently lost to the West Indies 1-2 in the three-match series despite winning the opening game. In this case, Australia will slip to third place by losing six rating points.

Australia can jump to second place alone in the ICC rankings

Australia also have a great chance to climb to second place if they win the series 3-0. Currently, they are joint-second in the rankings with New Zealand with 109 ratings. After the 3-0 series win, Australia will gain three points to jump to second alone, while New Zealand will slip to third place. However, it will be extremely tough for them as the hosts will miss Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, and Marcus Stoinis, as they announced their retirement from the format.

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