South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis Photo © ICC

South Africa and Sri Lanka go head to head in a battle for second place in the new ICC ODI Championship Table when they meet in Johannesburg tomorrow.

The game is the first ODI for both sides since the introduction of the official ICC ODI rankings at the end of last month. South Africa, ranked second with a rating of 120, plays host to Sri Lanka, ranked third with a rating of 117, in the five match series.

ICC ODI Championship Table (correct on 24 November 2002)

 
Ranking    Team             Pld   Points  Rating
1          Australia         27    3465    128
2          South Africa      38    4571    120
3          Sri Lanka         35    4092    117
4          Pakistan          34    3925    115
5          India             38    3929    103
6          West Indies       29    2856     98
7          England           21    2014     96
8          New Zealand       31    2832     91
9          Zimbabwe          30    2000     67
10         Kenya             12     263     22
11         Bangladesh        13     145     11

Developed by David Kendix

South Africa, preparing to host the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, will aim to go into the tournament on a high. A winning series against Sri Lanka will reinforce their second place in the ICC ODI Championship table and close the gap on leaders Australia whose next ODI match will be the opening game in the VB series against England on 13th December.

If Sri Lanka can emerge with four or more victories from the five match series they will overtake South Africa. A heavy defeat, however, will open the door for Pakistan to claim third spot at Sri Lanka's expense.

"Going into these matches only five points separate the teams in second to fourth place in the table," said ICC General Manager - Cricket, David Richardson.

"With South Africa scheduled to play Pakistan immediately after the Sri Lanka series there are an exciting range of possibilities at the top of the table."

The ICC ODI Championship table is updated on the ICC website - www.icc.cricket.org - after every ODI match. There is also an interactive Predictor on the website which allows cricket fans to forecast the impact of future results.

The South Africa v Sri Lanka ODI series will be refereed by Gundappa Viswanath with Russell Tiffin from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires standing in all of the matches.

Fixtures:

Johannesburg, November 27
Centurion, November 29
Benoni, December 1
Kimberley, December 4
Bloemfontein, December 6

How the ICC ODI rankings work:

The formula used by the ICC to determine ranking positions takes into account the following factors:

- results from all ODI matches played over the previous two to three years
- strength of opposition, with greater reward for beating higher ranked opponents
- greater importance is placed on more recent results, with older matches dropped every 12 months
- all matches have equal status, with no account taken of venue or margin of victory

For the full formula visit www.icc.cricket.org.

ICC Media Contacts:

Mark Harrison	Jon Long
ICC Communications Manager	Project Officer-Corporate Affairs
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7266 7935	Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7266 7912
Mobile: + 44 (0) 7879 441891	Mobile: + 44 (0) 7946 545 090
E Mail: mark.harrison@icc-cricket.com	E Mail: jon.long@icc-cricket.com

© ICC