Proteas aim for No 1 spot

2008-08-21 16:10

Dubai - South Africa will aim to return to the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship table when they go head-to-head with England in a five-match ODI series starting at Leeds on Friday.

South Africa are currently two ratings points behind Australia on 128 but will go three points clear if they sweep the series 5-0.

A 4-1 win will put them on 130 ratings points but ahead of Australia when those ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point South Africa are 22 points ahead of sixth-placed England and that gap means they are expected to win the series comfortably.

If they fail to do so then their rating will suffer and they will lose two points if they secure only a 3-2 success. A loss by the same margin will see Graeme Smith's side slide to 122 points.

South Africa and England's post-series positions in the ODI Championship table are dependent on not only their own form in the series but also the result of the Sri Lanka - India clash. That five-match series is currently level at 1-1 and concludes on August 29.

Upward movement

A 5-0 series loss for Kevin Pietersen's side will drop them to 102 ratings points and a 4-1 defeat will cost them one ratings point but a 3-2 defeat, a creditable result given the large gap between the sides, will actually earn them three points, lifting them to 109.

Smith holds the top spot in the Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, and will be looking to open the gap from second-placed India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is currently involved in the ODI series in Sri Lanka.

Besides Smith, AB de Villiers (8th), Herschelle Gibbs (11th) and Jacques Kallis (17th) are in the top 20 while Pietersen is the highest ranked England batsman in 12th position.

Australia's Nathan Bracken holds the top placing in the bowling rankings, but South Africa's fifth-placed Andre Nel has a chance to leapfrog the Sri Lanka duo of Muttiah Muralidaran and Chaminda Vaas, depending how the trio perform over the coming days.

Makhaya Ntini currently sits in 14th place and will be targeting an upward movement to back his fifth place in the Player Rankings for Test bowlers.

Like South Africa, England also boast two players in the top 20 with fast bowler Stuart Broad as the highest ranked bowler in a career-high 13th place which he achieved against Scotland at Edinburgh earlier this week.

Andrew Flintoff is the other bowler in top 20 in 17th spot.

- SAPA