Graeme Smith would look to whitewash England

Calcutta: South Africa would aim to return to the summit 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 two ratings points behind Australia on 128 but will go three points clear if they sweep the series 5-0. A 4-1 win would put them on 130 but ahead of Australia when those ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

South Africa are 22 rating points ahead of sixth-placed England. 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, according to an ICC release.

South Africa and England’s post-series positions in the ODI rankings’ table are dependent on not only their own form but also the result of the Sri Lanka-India clash.

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

A victory by a 5-0 margin would put England on 118 and drop the Proteas to 116 while a 4-1 series result will lift England to 115 and drop South Africa to 119.

In the rankings for ODI batsmen, South Africa captain Smith holds the top slot and would be looking to open the gap from second-placed Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is currently involved in the ODI series in Sri Lanka.

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

In the rankings for ODI bowlers, Australia’s Nathan Bracken holds the top spot but Andre Nel has a chance to leapfrog the Sri Lanka duo of Muttiah Muralidharan and Chaminda Vaas, depending how the trio perform over the coming days.

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

ODI RANKINGS

Teams

1. Australia (130); 2. South Africa (128); 3. New Zealand (116); 4. India (112); 5. Pakistan (110); 6. England (106); 7. Sri Lanka (106); 8. West Indies (95); 9. Bangladesh (46); 10. Ireland (18); 11. Zimbabwe (16); 12. Kenya (0).

Batsmen

1. G. Smith (SA, 79); 2. M.S. Dhoni (Ind, 766); 3. R. Ponting (Aus, 751); 4. M. Hussey (Aus, 750); 5. S. Chanderpaul (WI, 744); 6. M. Yousuf (Pak, 738); 7. S. Tendulkar (Ind, 735); 8. A.B. de Villiers (SA, 733); 9. A. Symonds (Aus, 730); 10. M. Hayden (Aus, 722).

Bowlers

1. N. Bracken (Aus, 769); 2. D. Vettori (NZ, 761); 3. S. Bond (NZ, 711); 4. M. Muralidharan (SL, 701); 5.= C. Vaas (SL, 682); A. Nel (SA, 682); 7. M.G. Johnson (Aus, 674); 8.= B. Lee (Aus, 667); J. Taylor (WI, 667); 10. K. Mills (NZ, 663);

Allrounders

1. S. Malik (Pak, 349); 2. J. Oram (NZ, 342); 3. J. Kallis (SA, 334); 4. S. Afridi (Pak, 331); 5.= S. Jayasuriya (SL, 329); C. Gayle (WI, 329).