Australia sealed their place at the top of the ICC Men’s ODI rankings by dethroning Pakistan after their dominant performance against South Africa in the 2nd ODI of the three-match ODI series. Days after the ‘Men in Green’ took their place at the top of the Men’s ODI Team Rankings, Australia regained their spot with a win in the second ODI against South Africa. After winning a thriller in the first match in Bloemfontein, Australia won the second ODI by 123 runs.
In the second ODI, batting first, Australia got off to a blistering start from Travis Head and David Warner.
Head scored a quick half-century while Warner brought up his twentieth ODI ton as Australia got a solid foundation.
Marnus Labuschagne, Australia’s hero in the first ODI win, then continued his brilliant run with another ton. This allowed Australia to post a mammoth total of 392/8 in their 50 overs.
South Africa got off to a fast start but failed to keep up the momentum despite valuable blows from Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen. Adam Zampa was the star with the ball for Australia, finishing with figures of 4/48 as South Africa were bowled out for 269.
With this win, Australia has 121 points on the points table of the Men’s ODI Team Rankings. This puts them one ahead of Pakistan, which is at 120.
Australia was once the dominant ODI side and continued to do well in the limited overs format.
In the 2022 season, they lost a hard-fought series against Sri Lanka away from home. Their hiccups continued after reaching the Australian continent when they were humiliated in a dead rubber by Zimbabwe after winning the series. However, the Kangaroos followed that up with a 3-0 thrashing at home to regional rivals New Zealand.
In November 2022, they whitewashed England 3-0, again at home. They then defeated India in India in March 2023. With the victory over South Africa in Bloemfontein, they have now taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
The two sides are equal at the top, while India follows closely behind them. With a number of ODI matches coming up, the equations and rankings could change even further.
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