Shakib still number 1, Tigers safe at 7

Bangladesh continued its recent fine run of form in ODI cricket with an inaugural home series victory over South Africa on July 15, Wednesday to make it four successive home series wins.

The 2-1 triumph helped cement its ICC Champions Trophy 2017 qualification, as well as its seventh place position in the ICC ODI Team Rankings.

Shakib Al Hasan retains his number one spot in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI All-rounders on 418 points, 17 clear of Sri Lanka’s Tillikaratne Dilshan.

The series win also closed the gap on sixth-placed England to two points, while the Proteas remain in fourth place but have dropped three rankings points to 109, according to ICC’s Media Release.

Soumya Sarkar had a series he won’t forget in a hurry!

His scores of 27, 88 not out and 90 propelled Bangladesh to victory and also vaulted the 22-year-old 35 places in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen to a career high 15th on 671 points.

Another upward-mover for the hosts was Nasir Hossain who has moved up one place to 37th.

The top 10 remains unchanged which means that AB de Villiers in first position, and captain Hashim Amla in third, are the leading batsmen for South Africa.

Faf du Plessis has gained one place to 17th after scoring 110 runs in the series.

In the ICC Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers, Shakib Al Hasan has moved up one place to seventh and now lies just one place, and three points, behind Australia’s Mitchell Johnson.

Shakib joined his captain Mashrafe Mortaza in claiming their 200th ODI wickets in the third ODI in Chittagong and Mortaza has now moved up two places to 26th.

But the biggest movers were Rubel Hossain (up 15 places to 40th), Mustafizur Rahman (up 19 to 69th), Mahmudullah (up 15 to 75th) and Nasir Hossain (up 18 to a career high 92nd).

Soumya Sarkar acknowledges the crowd after reaching his fifty during the 3rd ODI against South Africa at Chittagong. Photo: STAR

ICC ODI Championship Table (as on 16 July, after 2nd ODI between Sri Lanka-Pakistan and following Bangladesh-South Africa and Zimbabwe-India series):

Rank Team Points

1 Australia 129

2 India 115

3 New Zealand 112

4 South Africa 109

5 Sri Lanka 105

6 England 98

7 Bangladesh 96

8 West Indies 88

9 Pakistan 88

10 Ireland 50

11 Zimbabwe 43

12 Afghanistan 41

Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh picks up his 200 ODI wicket during the 3rd ODI against South Africa at Chittagong. Photo: STAR