Cricket: Black Caps on slippery slope in the ratings

New Zealand have been evicted from near the top of the International Cricket Council's one-day ladder and now face a fight to avoid free-falling into the lower half of the table.

The revised ICC standings, issued after New Zealand's loss at Bloemfontein on Sunday, see Stephen Fleming's side dropping below Pakistan and South Africa on the rankings and ending up near sixth-placed England.

The descent comes less than a year after New Zealand were ranked No 2 behind world champions Australia, and after they arrived in South Africa this month at No 3.

New Zealand could still force their way back into the top three, but they'll have to bounce back from last weekend's loss and win their maiden series in South Africa.

Not only is history against them, they're also facing fitness problems over key allrounders Scott Styris and Jacob Oram, and form concerns over batsmen Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall and Lou Vincent.

Astle - with 15 ODI centuries - will make the cut for tomorrow's second one-dayer at Cape Town, but either Marshall or Vincent will be omitted if Styris is fit.

If they narrowly lose the five-match series they'll finish on about 112, only three clear of England.

Should they fail to post a win in South Africa, New Zealand would drop behind the English and return home in sixth with India starting to breathe down their necks.

New Zealand will then have to tackle Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee series before Christmas and, in a worst-case scenario, could finish the year at No 7.