Following the humiliating 5-0 whitewash at the hands of England, reigning world champions Australia have slipped behind Pakistan in the ICC ODI rankings.
Australia have finished in sixth place in the latest ODI team rankings after losing the fifth and final ODI on Sunday. The team from Down Under are now behind Pakistan after losing four points in the series. They are now on 100 points, trailing Pakistan by two points and leading Bangladesh by seven.
During the course of the series, they had fell to sixth place for the first time in more than three decades after conceding a 2-0 lead. Their losing streak continued thereafter and came to an end on Sunday with a heartbreaking loss.
In the must-win clash in order to avoid a whitewash, Australia’s batsmen came up with their worst performance in the series. Barring Travis Head, who struck his third half-century of the tour, and D’Arcy Short (47) and Alex Carey (44), none of the other batsmen made any significant contribution. In fact, other than these three only two Aaron Finch (22) and Kane Richardson (14) managed to cross the double digits. As a result, Australia were all out for 205 in the 35th over.
In reply, England started disastrously. Billy Stanlake ripped through England’s top order with 3-18 in his opening five-over spell and Kane Richardson returned to the side to claim 3-51 and the decision to open with Ashton Agar against in-form opener Jason Roy reaped dividends when he was bowled in the first over. England were five down for just 50 and later 8 down for 114.
However, Jos Buttler struck a brilliant unbeaten century to help England register a thrilling one-wicket win.
Meanwhile, England have consolidated their position at the top of the table after registering their first-ever whitewash over Australia in a five-match series. They are currently on 126 points, four more than second-placed India.
England’s next series is against India at home from 12 to 17 July. A 3-0 loss will see England slip behind India. However, they will retain the top spot even if they lose the series 2-1.