Pakistan are officially the fourth-best one-day international side in the world. The Pakistan ICC ODI rankings November 2026 update places the national team fourth with 104 rating points, level with third-placed South Africa, after a triumphant home tri-series campaign sealed with a record-equalling run chase in Lahore.
The rise — Pakistan sat fifth with 100 points in the ICC’s October 15 snapshot — comes on the back of four wins in five tournament matches, crowned by Saturday’s breathtaking three-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the final at a packed Gaddafi Stadium.
326 chased down: a final for the ages in Lahore
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first, but Sri Lanka still piled up 325 for 8, powered by Kamindu Mendis’s maiden ODI hundred, a sparkling 131. At the innings break, history was firmly against the hosts.
It got worse before it got better. Chasing 326, Pakistan slumped to 14 for 2 inside four overs as Dilshan Madushanka removed Maaz Sadaqat for 5 and Babar Azam for a five-ball duck. What followed was one of the great ODI final innings: Fakhar Zaman hammered 127 off just 99 deliveries, laced with 11 fours and six sixes, adding 149 runs with Saad Baig (74) for the third wicket to drag Pakistan back into the contest.
When Fakhar fell with more than 100 still needed, Arafat Minhas produced a breathtaking finish — 61 off 31 balls, including a 28-ball fifty — as Pakistan reached 331 for 7 with nine balls to spare. The 326 chase equals the highest successful run chase in the history of ODI finals and knockout matches, and it delivered Pakistan’s first ODI tri-series title since 2008.
The win carried an extra layer of sweetness: earlier in the tournament, at the same venue, Sri Lanka had bowled Pakistan out for just 110. Saturday’s chase was emphatic revenge, completed in front of a raucous home crowd as dew made the ball hard to grip for Sri Lanka’s bowlers in the night session.
Fakhar Zaman’s 127: the innings that moved the needle
Fakhar walked into the final short of runs — just 31 from his previous four innings — and walked out with his 12th ODI century and the player-of-the-match award. It was his second hundred in a final, following the famous 114 against India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final at The Oval, the innings Pakistan fans still remember him for.
The series win earned Pakistan one precious rating point, enough to draw level with South Africa on 104 points in the official ICC rankings, as reported by Wisden. South Africa stay third, marginally ahead on the underlying calculation, but Pakistan are now breathing down their necks.
Where the table stands — and the road to the 2027 World Cup
India remain first and New Zealand second, but the chasing pack has tightened dramatically. Afghanistan sit at a historic sixth, Sri Lanka slipped to seventh after losing a rating point, and England dropped to eighth after failing to reach the final.
The timing could hardly be better. The 2027 Cricket World Cup will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia from October 2 to November 21, 2027, and Pakistan’s resurgence — built on a fearless batting unit and a settled squad under captain Shaheen Shah Afridi — makes them genuine contenders.
Fourth place also carries psychological weight. Pakistan went into this home season outside the world’s top four; they leave it as the team nobody wants to face in a knockout game. With the Champions Trophy cycle behind them and a young core — Sadaqat, Baig and Minhas all announced themselves this series — the trajectory points firmly upward.
One footnote from the final: Pakistan were fined five per cent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate, found one over short after time allowances. Afridi pleaded guilty and accepted the sanction, avoiding a formal hearing — a small price for a famous night in Lahore.
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