SL have chance to gain the No.1 spot in ODIs

Sri Lanka will go top of the Reliance ICC ODI Championship table for the first time in its proud history if it beats Australia by 4-1 or better in the five-match ODI series which begins at Pallekele International Stadium from Wednesday.

Four-time world champion Australia, which has been holding the top spot since September 2009, currently sits on 130 ratings points and leads second-placed Sri Lanka by 12 ratings points. However, Sri Lanka will take a lead of one ratings point if it wins the series 4-1 while it will move eight points clear of Australia if it wins all the five matches of the series.

A 4-1 series win will put Sri Lanka on 125 ratings points, relegating Australia to 124 ratings points while a 5-0 win will earn Sri Lanka 11 ratings points which will put it on 129 ratings points while dropping Australia to 121 which will concede nine ratings points for its failure to win a single match.

On the other side of the coin, Sri Lanka will drop behind South Africa into fourth position if Australia wins by 4-1 or better.

While a 4-1 series win will lift Michael Clarke's side to 133 ratings points, Tillakaratne Dilshan's side will slip to 115 ratings points - one behind South Africa - whereas a 5-0 win for Australia will put it on 136 ratings points as compared to Sri Lanka's 112.

Meanwhile in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, Australia's Shane Watson is the highest-ranked batsman from either side in third position - 46 points behind South Africa captain AD de Villiers.

Kumar Sangakkara, Michael Hussey and rival captains Dilshan and Clarke are the other batsmen inside the top 10 while former captain Ricky Ponting occupies 13th position.

Mitchell Johnson (seventh), Brett Lee (16th) and Nuwan Kulasekara (20th) are the bowlers who figure inside the top 20 in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers while Watson holds the top spot in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders.