Ireland go to top of Associate rankings

Ireland have gone to the top of the ICC Associate ODI rankings after the previous leaders Scotland were beaten by Kenya at Mombasa.

The rankings, which indicate how the five teams below the top 11 are faring, look set to change further over the coming weeks with the ICC World Cricket League and World Cup on the horizon and with all these sides set to play a large number of ODIs.

Kenya's victory by a margin of 192 runs dropped the Scots' win rate down to 71%, four percentage points below Ireland. Scotland will get the chance to repair some of the damage on Thursday, though, when they take on Canada at Mombasa as part of an ongoing ODI Tri-Series. Victory in the fixture will take Scotland level with Ireland at the top, while if Canada win they will move off the bottom of the table, above Bermuda into fourth place.

ICC High Performance Manager Richard Done said: "The ranking system is in place now to provide an opportunity for the top Associate teams to rate themselves in relation to their immediate competitors.

"It also provides a context to the ODIs which they now play and gives them a constant benchmark and incentive to improve. But more than that, it gives them a definite pathway towards qualification for the LG ICC ODI Championship," he continued.

The rankings were set up in 2005 following the ICC Trophy, when the top five were awarded one-day status ahead of the 2007 World Cup. The countries are Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. Kenya are not part of the competition, but results from matches against them count towards the Associate rankings table.