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South Africa reclaim ODI top spot from Australia March 14, 2008 18:21 IST South Africa swapped places with Australia and ensured that it will hold the top spot in the LG ICC [Images] ODI Championship table at the April 1 cut-off after convincingly wrapping up the series 3-0 against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Friday. South Africa gained 0.720 points from the series victory and although it stayed on 127 ratings points along with Australia, this fraction of a point was enough to put it ahead of Ricky Ponting's [Images] side by 0.191 of a point. Both the teams were on 127 ratings points before the start of the series but Australia had its nose ahead by 0.529 of a point. South Africa's achievement is significant because the side that leads the ODI Championship ladder on 1 April, receives US $175,000 for its achievement, while the side that lies second collects US $75,000. Last year, South Africa also snatched the title just before the 1 April cut-off date, relegating Australia to second. In the LG ICC Test Championship table, India is sure of finishing runner-up to Australia after England [Images] blew its chance of leapfrogging Anil Kumble's [Images] side after losing the first Test to New Zealand [Images] in Hamilton. The best result England can now achieve is a 2-1 victory which will keep it on fifth place. The only way England could have gone into second place was by winning the series 3-0. While Australia will retain the mace and also collect the cheque for US $175,000, India will earn US $75,000 for finishing second in the LG ICC Test Championship Table at the cut-off date. More information on the rankings at: http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/rankings/lg.html | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||