South Africa have slipped down to number four in the latest ICC ODI rankings despite the recent ODI series win over Sri Lanka 3-2. South Africa started the series in third position with 113 points, one more than New Zealand’s 112 points.

The series result saw South Africa slip to 110 points while Sri Lanka gained three points and moved to 80 points, though remaining in their pre-series eighth position.

South Africa in this recent ODI series against Sri Lanka played very good cricket in their quest to win an ODI series away from home. They are just above Pakistan by 6 points. 

Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Windies and Afghanistan make the bottom half of the table. Every team other than Bangladesh is struggling in the ODI format. While Australia are still to recover from the ball-tampering controversy against South Africa earlier this year, the other three teams also are performing poorly in the format. 

David Warner and Steve Smith inching closer to completing their 12-month suspension is something which can make the Australian selectors happy while for the other teams its just about getting better at their game ahead of the World Cup next year. 

England are on top of the table with 127 points while India are in second position with 121 points. India is currently playing a 5 match Test series in England and are 2-0 down after losing the first two Test matches. Prior to the series, India won the T20I series and lost the ODI series 2-1. 

(Inputs from ICC)