Latest ICC ODI Rankings: Australia extend lead at the top as Bangladesh overtake Pakistan

Bangladesh recently whitewashed Pakistan in an ODI series

World Cup winners Australia have doubled their lead over second-ranked India in the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings from six to 12 points following the annual update while the West Indies, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are now locked in a tight struggle for the remaining two slots in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 whose cut-off date is 30 September 2015.

The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 will be played from 1 to 19 June in England and Wales, and the host country (England), plus the next seven highest-ranked ODI sides will participate in the event.

The annual update is carried out to ensure the table continues to reflect results from the last three years. As such, results from 2011-12 have been dropped while the results from 2013-14 have been reduced to a weighting of 50 per cent.

The updated rankings now see a battle between the West Indies (seventh, 88 points), Bangladesh (eighth, 88 points) and Pakistan (ninth, 87 points). The three sides are separated by one point and will be vying for the last two places in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, adding significant interest to their ODIs in the lead up to the cut-off date.

The annual ODI update has also seen New Zealand and England head in opposite directions.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 runners-up New Zealand have made the biggest move, jumping eight points to be third-ranked ahead of South Africa. In contrast, England have had the biggest fall as they hasve surrendered seven points, dropping to sixth-ranked, 12 points behind fifth-ranked Sri Lanka.

Rank	Team	Ratings Points
1	Australia	129
2	India	117
3	New Zealand	116
4	South Africa	112
5	Sri Lanka	106
6	England	94
7	West Indies	88
8	Bangladesh	88
9	Pakistan	87
10	Ireland	50
11	Zimbabwe	45
12	Afghanistan	41