Race for top spot of LG ICC ODI Championship still open

South Africa will secure top spot in the LG ICC ODI Championship at the 1 April cut-off if it beats Sri Lanka in Guyana on Wednesday.

However, if the Proteas fail to beat Mahela Jayawardene's side at the National Stadium in Georgetown and Australia is victorious over the West Indies on Tuesday and Bangladesh on Saturday then it will be Ricky Ponting's men who get to top the Championship by the cut-off date.

The date is significant because the side that leads the ladder on 1 April receives US$175,000 for its achievement, while the side that lies second collects US$75,000.

Smith's side assumed first place from Australia last month following an outstanding run of results over the past year, which saw the team win 15 of its 21 matches ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

It is the first time a side has overtaken Australia in the LG ICC ODI Championship table since the listings began in October 2002.

Following Australia's victory over South Africa in St Kitts on Saturday the teams are now both on 126 points at the top of the table. However, when calculated to three decimal points, it is Graeme Smith's side that just comes out in front.

If Australia beats the West Indies and Bangladesh and South Africa also defeats Sri Lanka then both teams will end up on 127 points by the cut-off date. Again, upon further calculations, South Africa would finish ahead of Australia by just 0.1199 of a point.

Further down the ladder, there is plenty of congestion as just 11 points separates third place from eighth and so one can expect plenty of movement as the Super Eight stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup develops.

Indeed, due to its early exit from the event, India could fall as low as eighth place from its present position of sixth provided the West Indies and England register good results in the coming weeks. Currently, England lies just one point behind Rahul Dravid's team with the West Indies just two points further back.

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