Calcutta: Australia managed to cling on to the top spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table following their 103-run victory over South Africa in the third and final match of the series in Sydney Wednesday, according to an ICC media release.

However, the pressure is still on Ricky Ponting’s team as the gap at the top has been narrowed down to just five ratings points following the historic series defeat.

It is the first time South Africa have won a Test series in Australia and it sets up a fascinating return series, the first Test of which gets underway on February 26 in Johannesburg. Any sort of victory in that three-match series will see the Proteas at the top of the rankings.

Victory for Graeme Smith and his men in Sydney would have been enough to put them at the top but Australia dug deep to keep the chasing pack at bay.

With India very much on the ascendancy, there are now just eight points separating the first place from the third with all three teams very much in contention for the right to be called the No.1 Test side in the world.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka strengthened their hold on the fourth place in the rankings, following their 2-0 series win in Bangladesh.

After being pushed very hard in the first Test in Dhaka, Mahela Jayawardene’s team proved far too strong the second time around and finally ran out winners by 465 runs in Chittagong.

That win gave Sri Lanka another rating point to put them within 10 of India and six ahead of England, who recently lost an away series 0-1 to India.

Pakistan are three points adrift in the sixth place while the West Indies are ahead of New Zealand by a fraction of a point following the recent drawn series.

Australia’s performance has seen a sharp decline in the past one year. They lost an away series against India and a home series against South Africa. Before that they had to fight tooth and nail to win the home series against the Indians who are now ranked third in the Test rankings.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting and national selection panel chief Andrew Hilditch have been criticised a lot for the team’s performance.

Veteran opener Matthew Hayden has also been under fire and shouts for his head has become louder after the series loss to South Africa, which was Australia’s first loss at home since 1992-93.

Winning the return series is now imperative for the Aussies.