Australia top seeded for Champions Trophy, India fourth.

[Feed]

Australia team has been confirmed as the top seed for Champions Trophy. South Africa, winners of the inaugural tournament in 1998, are second in the 8 team tournament. More... Australia top seeded for Champions Trophy, India fourth. IANS KUALA LUMPUR, March 1: Defending champions Australia have been confirmed as the top seed for Champions Trophy tournament to be played in Pakistan in September. Australia with 130 points maintained their top slot in the One-Day International championship table, after the completion of the preliminary round matches of the Commonwealth Bank Series in Melbourne, the International Cricket Council said in a statement here on Saturday. The cut-off date for the determination of the seedings for the Champions Trophy is March 12. But with only the finals of the tri-series remaining, the International Cricket Council's ODI Championship table can not be changed irrespective of how the best of three final pans out. South Africa, winners of the inaugural tournament in 1998 in Bangladesh, will be seeded second followed by New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England and the West Indies in the eight-team tournament. The groupings will be announced on March 12. Sri Lanka avoided a slip in the ODI championship table, the yardstick to decide teams seedings, when it signed off with a 13-run victory over Australia on Friday in the last league match of the CB series. Had Australia won the game, Sri Lanka would have slipped to seventh position with England moving up to sixth place. Australia and India will now go head-to-head in the best-of-three final, aware of the fact that whatever the outcome be, the championship table will not change. However, if India wins the final in two matches, Ricky Ponting's side will drop to 127 ratings points, same as South Africa but ahead of Graeme Smith's side when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point. Likewise, India will also join New Zealand on 113 ratings points but will remain in fourth position when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point. On the other hand, if Australia wins the tournament in two straight matches, it will go to 132 ratings points with India staying on 110 points. A 2-1 win for Australia would mean that the home team would finish on 130 points while India would return home on 111 ratings points. Championship Table: 1. Australia 130 rating points 2. South Africa 127 3. New Zealand 113 4. India 111 5. Pakistan 109 6. Sri Lanka 107 7. England 105 8. West Indies 96 9. Bangladesh 47 10. Ireland 28 11. Zimbabwe 18 12. Kenya 0