KATHMANDU, April 15: India rose to second in the ICC ODI Cricket Ranking for first time since rankings launched in October 2002 as Australia´s loss against South Africa put it in the lowest ranking at third, according to a press release by International Cricket Council (ICC).[break]
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South Africa’s success in winning seven out of nine ODIs against Australia this year has consigned Ricky Ponting’s side to its lowest ranking. The four-time world champion is now third in the listing.
Third place and a tally of 121 points is Australia’s lowest ranking and rating since the listings were launched in October 2002. Remarkably, out of a total of 79 months since that date, Australia has held the top spot for 69 of those months, including 52 straight months at the top of the tree from October 2002 to January 2007.
India’s placing is the highest it has achieved in the ODI rankings and complements its third place in the ICC Test Championship.
But despite that bad news for Australia and despite the fact that it is 3-1 down in the five-match series, the touring side still has a huge incentive in Friday’s final match in Johannesburg.
Ponting’s line-up, which moved to the top of the table after a 141-run victory in the first game of the series in Durban, will regain the number-two position if it wins at The Wanderers. And if Australia ends its tour on a winning note, it will rise to 123 ratings points, one ahead of India and three behind South Africa.
On the other side of the coin, if South Africa wins on Friday it will finish the series on 128 ratings points while Australia will head off to the United Arab Emirates to face Pakistan in a five-match ODI series in third place on 120 ratings points, trailing India by two.
ICC ODI Ranking (as of April 15): 1. South Africa 127 points, 2. India 122, 3. Australia 121, 4. New Zealand 112, 5. Pakistan 111, 6. England 108, 7. Sri Lanka 105, 8. West Indies 92, 9. Bangladesh 46, 10. Zimbabwe 23, 11. Ireland 19 and 12. Kenya 00
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