(ICC) South Africa is guaranteed to retain the mace as well as collect a cash award of US$475,000 that is presented to the side that tops the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings on the 1 April cut-off date, but battle for second and third places remain tight as both Australia and India have a chance to finish in the top two.
South Africa is currently sitting on 133 ratings points – 16 ratings points clear of second-ranked India with Australia occupying third place on 111 ratings points.
This means even if South Africa loses all the three Tests to Australia and India wins the second Test against New Zealand to draw the series at one-all, South Africa will finish seven ratings points ahead of Australia, which will claim second position on 117 ratings points and followed by India (114) and England (107).
For Australia to finish in second place and grab US$350,000, it will need to win the series against the Proteas. In this situation, India will finish third and will have to be happy with US$250,000.
Nevertheless, if the Wellington Test ends in a draw or New Zealand wins, then Australia will only need to draw the series to stay ahead of India in second place at the 1 April cut-off date.
The following are the permutations:
· If India wins the Wellington Test, then Australia needs to win the series against South Africa to finish second. Irrespective of the series result, South Africa will finish in number-one position on the 1 April cut-off date, while England will finish fourth
· If the Wellington Test is won by the home side or it is drawn, then Australia will need to draw the series against South Africa to finish in second place
· If New Zealand wins the series 2-0 and South Africa wins the series 1-0 or better, then India will finish ahead of Australia
To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the Rankings Table, please click here. The Test Ranking Table, unlike the ODI and T20I Rankings tables, are updated after every series.
ODI team rankings
Meanwhile, Australia has been assured of number-one ranking while India has sealed second position on theReliance ICC ODI Team Rankings, on the 1 April cut-off date.
Australia will now receive the ODI Shield as well as a cheque of US$175,000 for finishing atop while India will collect a cheque of US$75,000.
India, which held the number-one rank since January 2013 ceded the top position to Australia after losing its recent series against New Zealand 0-4. India can now finish second irrespective of how it finishes in the upcoming Asia Cup.
