Sri Lanka Aim Shot at the Top of ODI List

Dubai: Sri Lanka will have a chance to go on the top of the ICC ODI Championship table for the first time in their history if they manage to beat Australia 4-1 or better in the five-match one-day series, which begins in Pallekele on Wednesday.

India, meanwhile, will remain static at number three slot in the table with 117 points.

Four-time world champion Australian team, which has been holding the top spot since September 2009, currently is on 130 ratings points and leads second-placed Sri Lanka by 12 ratings points.

However, Sri Lankans will take a lead of one ratings point if they win the series 4-1, while they will move eight points if they manage a whitewash.

A 4-1 series win will put Sri Lanka on 125 ratings points, relegating Australia to 124 ratings points. While a 5-0 win will earn Sri Lanka 11 ratings points that will put them on 129 ratings points, dropping Australia to 121 which will concede nine ratings points for its failure to win a single match.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka will drop behind South Africa into fourth position if Australia win by 4-1 or better.

A 5-0 win for Australia will put them on 136 ratings points as compared to Sri Lanka's 112, a 4-1 series win will lift Michael Clarke's side to 133 ratings points, even as Tillakaratne Dilshan's team will slip to 115 ratings points.

Meanwhile, in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, Australia's Shane Watson is the highest-ranked batsman from either side in third position with 46 points behind South Africa captain AD de Villiers.

Kumar Sangakkara, Michael Hussey and rival captains Dilshan and Clarke are the other batsmen inside the top-10, while former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting occupies 13th position.

Mitchell Johnson (7th), Brett Lee (16th) and Nuwan Kulasekara (20th) are the bowlers who figure inside the top 20 in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, while Watson holds the top spot in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders.

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West Indies vs Bangladesh - 3rd T20I 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 21, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - South Africa v Pakistan - December 22, 12:00 GMT 2nd ODI - South Africa v Pakistan at Cape Town Pakistan won by 81 runs 2nd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 232 runs

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