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Australia confirmed as top seed
01/03/2008 18:51 - (SA)
Dubai - Reigning champions Australia have been confirmed as the top seed for the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan in September after the completion of the preliminary round matches of the tri-series in Melbourne.
The cut-off date for the determination of the seedings for the ICC Champions Trophy 2008 is 12 March. But with only the finals of the tri-series remaining, the ICC ODI Championship table cannot be changed irrespective of how the best-of-three final pans out.
South Africa, winners of the inaugural tournament in 1998 in Bangladesh, will be seeded second followed by New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England and the West Indies in the eight-team tournament. The groupings will be announced on 12 March.
Sri Lanka avoided a slip in the ICC ODI Championship table, the yardstick to decide teams' seedings, when they signed off with a 13-run victory over Australia. Had Australia won the game, Sri Lanka would have slipped to seventh position with England moving up to sixth place.
Australia and India will now go head-to-head in the best-of-three finals, aware of the fact that whatever the outcome, the championship table will not change.
However, if India win the final in two matches Ricky Ponting's side will drop to 127 ratings points, the same as South Africa but ahead of Graeme Smith's side when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point.
On the other hand, if Australia win the tournament in two straight matches, they will go to 132 ratings points with India staying on 110 points. A 2-1 win for Australia would mean that the home team would finish on 130 points while India would return home on 111 ratings points.
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