Dubai, Feb 18:
Victory in the Cape Town Test against Pakistan has guaranteed South Africa the number-one position on the ICC Test Championship table at the 1 April cut-off date and also a hefty prize purse of USD 450,000 for the achievement.
None of South Africa’s closest rivals — England, Australia and India — now can overtake.
South Africa had entered the series on 124 ratings points and only needed to draw the series to retain the Test mace.
But victory in the Cape Town Test by four wickets means even if it loses the third and final Test at Centurion, it will still gain one ratings point and finish on 125 points, which will be more than sufficient to give it the top spot at the cut-off date irrespective of how the India-Australia and England-New Zealand series pan out.
If England wins all the three Tests against New Zealand, the maximum it can achieve is 119, while India can rise to as high as 112 if it defeats Australia 4-0 and Australia can move to 121 if it wins all four Tests against India.
This is a significant increase in prize money, as, until last year, the side topping the Test or ODI Championship table received USD 175,000.
While South Africa has sealed the number-one spot, the battle for second, third and fourth positions is still on, and is not only intense but close, as only 13 ratings points separate second-ranked England from fifth-ranked India.
The side that claims second position at the 1 April cut-off date will earn USD 350,000 while the side finishing third will collect USD 250,000 and the side ending fourth will earn USD 150,000.
Meanwhile, Pakistan players have gained in the Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings despite suffering defeat against South Africa.
Younus Khan, who scored 111 and 14, has returned to the top 10 in ninth spot after rising two places while Azhar Ali’s total aggregate of 69 runs has earned him 11th spot. (PTI)
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