The BLACKCAPS require a 3-0 National Bank ODI series win over Bangladesh to sustain third place in the ICC ODI rankings.
Recent movements in the table mean Daniel Vettori’s side must clean sweep the Tigers to maintain their status.
A one-match victory will plunge the BLACKCAPS under India into fourth. And with only a narrow gap between contenders, a series defeat will send them to seventh place.
The player ratings find Scott Styris, in 23rd place, the highest-ranked batsmen from either side.
Team-mate Peter Fulton is the next-highest ranked batsman in 30th place while wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum (44th), Ross Taylor (52nd) and Jacob Oram (55th) are the other notable batsmen.
Vettori is the highest-ranked bowler in action in the absence of second-placed Shane Bond, currently ranked sixth.
Another left-arm spinner, Abdur Razzak, is Bangladesh’s highest-ranked bowler in 14th place.
Styris and Oram are currently ranked sixth and seventh respectively in the all-rounder charts, and have a good chance to close in on fifth placed South Africa’s Jacques Kallis who leads Styris by 11 ratings points.
LG ICC ODI Championship
(At 24 December)
1 Australia 130
2 South Africa 124
3 BLACKCAPS 112
4 India 110
5 Sri Lanka 108
6 Pakistan 107
7 England 107
8 West Indies 100
9 Bangladesh 48
10 Ireland 28
11 Zimbabwe 19
12 Kenya 0
