SOUTH Africa have retained their position as the best team in One Day International (ODI) cricket, following the annual May 1 update from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
After a 5-0 whitewash of Australia in October 2016, followed by ODI series wins over Sri Lanka and New Zealand in 2017, the Proteas gained four points to take their total tally to 123 points in the rankings.

World champions Australia remain in second place with 118 points while Champions Trophy winners India have overtaken New Zealand to third with 117 points.
England remain in fifth while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh occupy the sixth and seventh spots respectively despite losing points.
Most interestingly, eighth place Pakistan have maintained a lead over ninth place West Indies despite losing two points. With the gap between the two being nine points, it could prove crucial with regard to the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019.
Along with hosts England, the top seven-ranked ODI sides as of September 30 will automatically qualify for the competition and as things stand, Pakistan will feature in England.

As for West Indies, it looks increasingly likely that they will have to seek progress to the competition through the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in 2018.
Below are the full rankings:

Rank Nation Points
1. South Africa 123
2. Australia 118
3. India 117
4. New Zealand 115
5. England 109
6. Sri Lanka 93
7. Bangladesh 91
8. Pakistan 88
9. West Indies 79
10. Afghanistan 52
11. Zimbabwe 46
12. Ireland 43