New Zealand on a mission in the LG ICC ODI Championship table

New Zealand will be a team on a mission when their three-match Chappell-Hadlee ODI series against Australia starts in Auckland on Saturday.

The Black Caps are currently seventh in the LG ICC ODI Championship table and if they stay there or drop lower they face the prospect of playing in the preliminary round of next year's ICC Champions Trophy held in India.

The four sides below sixth spot on 1 April 2006 will have to take part in that preliminary round to qualify for the second stage although India, as hosts, will automatically be in that second stage no matter where they are in the table on 1 April.

A consolation for New Zealand is that the middle section of the table, where they currently sit, is a mighty congested area with just one point separating four sides, from India in fourth place to the Black Caps in that seventh position.

If New Zealand achieve the giddy heights of a 3-0 series clean sweep over Ricky Ponting's men in the upcoming matches they can rise as high as 116 points, level with third-placed Pakistan.

A 2-1 success will still be enough to lift the home side to 113 points and fourth place in the LG ICC ODI Championship table.

Australia appear to be the one side that does not have to worry about slipping out of that top six in the near future.

The World Champions are a massive 18 points clear of South Africa, their nearest rivals, and will extend that lead to 20 points with a 3-0 series win. That will be high on their agenda given they beat New Zealand 5-0 in their previous series, earlier this year.

One look at the LG ICC Player Rankings should be enough to send a shiver down the spines of even the most hardened Black Caps fan.

Adam Gilchrist and Ponting occupy the top two slots in the batting list and Australia have two other players on the tour in the top 20 - Andrew Symonds (11th) and Michael Clarke (19th).

They even have two players in the top 20 who are not with the side in Damien Martyn (16th, injured) and Mathew Hayden (20th, omitted).

In comparison, New Zealand's highest-placed player is Stephen Fleming at 21st but he is missing the first two matches after surgery to remove a tumour from his jaw-line.

Further down the list Australia's Michael Hussey, fresh from two Test hundreds against the West Indies, lies in 33rd position with a career-high points tally and the knowledge that in the ODI series against New Zealand earlier this year he was not dismissed.

The majority of New Zealand's batsmen feature in the table just behind Hussey. Craig McMillan is 35th, Nathan Astle is 37th, Scott Styris is 38th and Hamish Marshall is 39th with the recalled Chris Cairns two places further back, in 41st.

Australia also holds the top two positions in the bowling list through Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee but McGrath is missing from the upcoming series so that will be some consolation for New Zealand.

The home side's top-ranked bowler is Daniel Vettori, outstanding during the recent Johnnie Walker Super Series, who is set to captain the side in Fleming's absence. Vettori lies in sixth spot and is close to his highest-ever points tally.

The home side has two other bowlers in the top 20 positions, Jacob Oram in 13th and Shane Bond in 14th, as well as Scott Styris in 25th. All were injured either before or during their previous series against Australia so their inclusion now is a cause for real optimism.

The schedule for the Australia - New Zealand Chappell-Hadlee ODI series is as follows:

3 December - first ODI, Auckland
7 December - second ODI, Wellington
10 December - third ODI, Christchurch

All matches are day-night games.

Full details of the current LG ICC Test Championship and how future results will impact on the table, as well as the LG ICC Player Rankings can be found here