South Africa Retain No.1 Test Position

Dubai: South Africa on Monday retained the top spot in the ICC Test rankings after beating Australia by a mammoth 309 runs in the third and final Test clinch the series 1-0 in Perth.

South Africa's series victory means that it is the clear leader at the top of the table, leading second-ranked England by six ratings points.

Australia is still in third position but has dropped to 114 after conceding three ratings points, the ICC said in a statement.

However, Australia will move ahead of England if India wins the remaining two Tests in Kolkata and Nagpur.

If India does win the next two Tests, it will win the series 3-1 and also jump ahead of England, by 0.01 point. If India wins the series 3-1, then it will have 111.59 ratings points while England will have 111.58.

In sharp contrast, if England wins the remaining two Tests, then it will rise to 119 ratings points and India will drop to 103 ratings points. In case of a drawn series, England will drop two points while India will gain two points.

A total of USD 3.8m in prize money will be shared among the top four sides on April 1, 2013, 2014 and 2015, after the ICC Board approved a proposal earlier this year to substantially increase incentives to promote Test cricket in the period leading up to the ICC Test Championship event in 2017.

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South Africa Retain No.1 Test Position [+]

South Africa retained the top spot in the ICC Test rankings after beating Australia by 309 runs in the third and final Test clinch the series 1-0.

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