DHAKA: Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have the opportunity to gain vital rankings points when they go head to head in five One-Day Internationals (ODIs), starting on Friday in Chittagong.
 
Ninth-placed Bangladesh currently holds an 11-point lead over Elton Chigumbura’s charges, and can further increase its lead while also reducing the gap with New Zealand and West Indies, who lie level on 96 points, reports the icccricket.com on Thursday.

It said that a 5-nil series win for Bangladesh would open up a 22 point gap over its Zimbabwe, while a 4-1 scoreline would  lead to a lead of 17 points.

However, a 3-2 series win would see host Bangladesh retain a nine-point advantage.
 
Zimbabwe will be eyeing a move up the rankings, as a 5-0 series win would see it leapfrog Bangladesh into ninth position, six points clear.

In the event of a 4-1 series win, the two sides would be level on 63 points, with the host holding a fractional advantage.

A 3-2 win for Zimbabwe would reduce Bangladesh’s lead by five to six points.

Meanwhile, on the eve of the series, Zimbabwe’s Brendan Taylor is the highest ranked batsman in the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen.

The 28-year-old all-rounder lies in 31st place, and he will be looking to gain ground on England’s Joe Root who is a single point and one place ahead of him.

The next best-ranked Zimbabwe batsmen are Hamilton Masakadza (48th) and Sean Williams (49th).

For Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan (33rd), Tamim Iqbal (37th) and Mushfiqur Rahim (40th) are the top-ranked batsmen.
 
In the ICC Players Rankings for ODI Bowlers, Shakib Al Hasan is the highest-ranked bowler on either side, and the left arm spinner lies in 21stplace, six points adrift of a place in the top 20.

Zimbabawe’s highest-ranked bowler is Tendai Chatara (60th) who will be looking to build on his recent performances in the triangular series against South African and Australia where he captured five wickets.
 
Ahead of the start of the series, 27-year-old Shakib is also the highest ranked player on the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings for ODI All-rounders,in third place.

BDST: 0222 HRS, NOV 21, 2014