South Africa targets series win to increase pressure on Australia at top of LG ICC ODI Championship table

South Africa can increase the pressure on Australia at the top of the LG ICC ODI Championship table if it secures a convincing success over Pakistan in their five-match series that starts at Centurion on Sunday.

If the Proteas clean-sweep that series then it would lift them to 131 rating points, just two behind the current mark of Ricky Ponting's line-up.

And that would be the closest any side has come to Australia since the LG ICC ODI Championship table started in October 2002.

Of course, Australia can improve its own rating over the next week or so as its tri-series against England and New Zealand comes to a conclusion but, at the same time, it can also lose rating points if it suffers another defeat to go with Friday's reverse against England in Sydney.

South Africa will start as favourites against Pakistan and Graeme Smith's side will be full of confidence. It has won 10 of its last 12 matches in this form of the game and that includes a crushing 124-run victory over Pakistan, in Mohali during last year's ICC Champions Trophy.

And after winning the Test series between the two sides 2-1 it crushed the tourists by ten wickets in Friday's Twenty20 international in Johannesburg.

The contrast between the recent ODI form of the two sides is marked. Pakistan may be third in the table, 14 points behind South Africa, but it has secured only eight wins from its last 15 games, although that does include a 3-1 success against the West Indies late last year, just before this tour.

A look at the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODIs suggests South Africa has every right to be confident. It has nine batsmen among the top 50 places, as well as three players in the bowling top 20, including Shaun Pollock, who tops that list.

The home side's top-ranked batsman is Smith, in 13th place, while Herschelle Gibbs, who will be available for selection after missing the opening match through suspension, is 16th, and Jacques Kallis is in 23rd spot.

The batting ladder is headed by Australia's Michael Hussey, clear of Kevin Pietersen of England and India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with the latter in third position.

Pollock leads the bowling table ahead of Glenn McGrath of Australia, New Zealand's Daniel Vettori and McGrath's team mate Brett Lee, while Pollock's colleague Makhaya Ntini is in fifth position.

South Africa's other bowler among the top 20 places is Andre Nel, with the big fast bowler currently occupying 15th place in the list.

Pollock also leads the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders ahead of Chris Gayle from the West Indies.

Like the home side, Pakistan also has two batsmen inside the top 20 of the LG ICC Player Rankings with Mohammad Yousuf in 15th position and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq two places lower down.

But unlike South Africa, Pakistan does not have a large number of players inside the top 50, with only four other batsmen inside that select group, including vice-captain Younis Khan, who lies 42nd.

Inzamam's side has just one player among the top 20 bowlers, Rana Naved in 11th place, and after that, the next highest Pakistani is Shahid Afridi, in 32nd spot.

On the same day as this series begins at Centurion, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh begin a four-match contest in Harare.

For the home side, these matches are especially crucial as they represent the chance to arrest a shocking run of recent form.

Since beating Habibul Bashar's side 3-2 in a home series in July/August, it has lost 12 matches in a row, including a 5-0 reverse away from home against Bangladesh in December.

That result has allowed the Tigers to put some distance between the two teams and it now finds itself 18 rating points ahead of the African side in the LG ICC ODI Championship table.

Another resounding success this time would give Bangladesh a chance to continue to move closer to the side immediately ahead of it in the list, eighth-placed England, which is 58 points clear.

One look at the LG ICC Player Rankings suggests Bangladesh will start as clear favourites. It has two batsmen - Shahriar Nafees (joint 20th) and Aftab Ahmed (39th) inside the top 40, while Zimbabwe's highest-ranked player is Brendan Taylor, in 44th position.

Bangladesh also appears to hold the advantage with the ball. It has three players inside the top 20 - spinners Abdur Razzaq (joint 11th) and Mohammed Rafique (16th) and seamer Mashrafe Mortaza (18th); Zimbabwe, by contrast, is without a player in that elite group and its top-ranked player is captain and off-spinner Propser Utseya, in 22nd spot.

Elsewhere, England's Ed Joyce has moved into the top 100 in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen for the first time following his maiden hundred, against Australia in Sydney on Friday. Joyce is up 46 places to 80th position.

That result has seen England gain two rating points and it means it now trails seventh-placed West Indies by just two points. Australia, on the other hand, has lost two points courtesy of Friday's defeat.

The schedule for the South Africa - Pakistan ODI series is as follows:

4 February - first ODI, Centurion
7 February - second ODI, Durban
9 February - third ODI, Port Elizabeth
11 February - fourth ODI, Cape Town
14 February - fifth ODI, Johannesburg

The schedule for the Zimbabwe - Bangladesh ODI series is as follows (all matches are to be played in Harare):

4 February - first ODI
6 February - second ODI
9 February - third ODI
10 February - fourth ODI

The match referee for the four-match Zimbabwe - Bangladesh series is the former international umpire from South Africa, Cyril Mitchley.

Mr Mitchley, who shadowed Chris Broad during the recent South Africa - Pakistan Test in Cape Town, is officiating because of the unavailability of any members of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC match referees to fill the role.

Amish Saheba from India, a member of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires, will stand in all four ODIs where he will be joined by an official appointed by Zimbabwe Cricket.

For more information, including the upcoming fixtures and how they could affect the LG ODI Championship table, go to https://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/odi/predictor.html