India close in on second spot

India may have won 5-0 over England but they still couldn’t dislodge South Africa from second place © Getty Images
 

India’s 5-0 victory in the home one-dayers against England last month has helped them close in on second spot in the ICC ODI Championship. South Africa have lost their four-point lead over India but retain second place by a fraction of a point.One more win in the series would have helped Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team leapfrog South Africa but they were denied the opportunity by the postponement of the final two ODIs.Meanwhile, England’s crushing defeat cost them five points and their sixth place is under pressure from Sri Lanka, who have been lifted by their clean sweep of Zimbabwe to within a point of England.Zimbabwe pushed Sri Lanka close in each of the final three ODIs, but their inability to complete even one victory means they lost further ground to Ireland in 10th place and are only two points ahead of Kenya.At the other end of the table, Australia maintained their grip on top spot with a comfortable 12-point lead over South Africa.

ICC ODI Championship

30 Nov 2008

Team Matches Points Rating
Australia 28 3658 131
South Africa 29 3451 119
India 41 4865 119
Pakistan 28 3182 114
New Zealand 24 2714 113
England 32 3469 108
Sri Lanka 32 3416 107
West Indies 24 2178 91
Bangladesh 32 1494 47
Ireland 10 190 19
Zimbabwe 22 280 13
Kenya 7 75 11