Afghanistan have added to England’s woes with ODIs by leapfrogging them in the ICC rankings

ByTech Word News

Afghanistan climbed above England in the latest ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings after clinching the tri-series title with a convincing win over Zimbabwe on Friday 23 October. A disciplined display with the ball ensured Afghanistan’s triumph in Sharjah as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 169. Rashid Khan, Mouzamha Fardoqi led the charge with three Nabi and Bilal Sami claiming two wickets each.

Afghanistan made light work of the chase and reached the target in the 35th over. Ibrahim Zadran anchored the innings with an unbeaten 70 off 96 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and a six. He first combined with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who contributed 36, for an opening partnership of 68 runs, before adding another 82 runs with skipper Rahmat Shah, who scored 43.

Zadran’s steady knock earned him the Man of the Match award, while Rashid was named Player of the Series after finishing the tournament with 11 wickets.

The winning campaign also significantly boosted Afghanistan’s position in the ODI rankings. They collected two rating points to move from eighth to seventh, pushing England to eighth after the latter suffered back-to-back defeats against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi.

Sri Lanka thus moved up to sixth place in the table, benefit from England’s recent setbacks.

Zimbabwe also gained two rating points following their progress to the finals, but remained 11th in the rankings. Meanwhile, Bangladesh endured a disappointing tournament without a single win and dropped two points, although they held on to ninth place.

UPDATED ICC ODI RANKINGS

  1. India – 36 matches, 4122 points, 115th rank
  2. New Zealand – 35 games, 3809 points, 109th rating
  3. South Africa – 34 matches, 3547 points, 104th rating
  4. Pakistan – 34 matches, 3505 points, 103rd rating
  5. Australia – 35 games, 3568 points, 102nd rating
  6. Sri Lanka – 41 matches, 3896 points, 95 rating
  7. Afghanistan – 31 games, 2926 points, 94th rating
  8. England – 36 games, 3331 points, 93rd rating
  9. Bangladesh – 41 matches, 3304 points, 81st
  10. West Indies – 37 matches, 2924 points, 79th rating

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