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April 3, 2004
New Zealand are a good Test sideM J Manohar Rao and Srinivas Bhogle
South Africa must be relieved to have drawn their 'away' series 1-1 against New Zealand. A 2-0 defeat appeared a distinct possibility till Graeme Smith and Gary Kirsten fought back so well to win the third Test.
But third-ranked New Zealand (49.59) are still a formidable Test side. For example, they are a good four points ahead of fourth-ranked India (45.58) in the Rediff Test rankings -- and even a 3-0 win in Pakistan won't take India past New Zealand.
India must also watch England's performance in West Indies. Already 2-0 up, fifth-placed England (41.83) could come rather close to India. England have a small chance of overtaking India if they win 4-0 in WI and India lose a Test in Pakistan. However, that's rather unlikely. So India should in all probability retain their fourth place.
The current Rediff Test rankings appear below in Table A.
| Country |
Performance index (RBI) |
Rank |
Difference
29.3.04 to 3.4.04 |
| Australia |
80.08 |
1 |
+0.01 |
| South
Africa |
57.13 |
2 |
-1.21 |
| New
Zealand |
49.59 |
3 |
+1.41 |
| India |
45.58 |
4 |
-0.04 |
| England |
41.83 |
5 |
-0.07 |
| Pakistan |
39.73 |
6 |
+0.01 |
| Sri Lanka |
32.28 |
7 |
-0.17 |
| West
Indies |
30.30 |
8 |
-0.18 |
| Zimbabwe |
13.94 |
9 |
+0.07 |
The drawn series still helps New Zealand because South Africa had won the previous Test series in New Zealand.
The current ICC ratings are: Australia (127), South Africa (112), Pakistan (102), New Zealand (101), England (101), India (100), Sri Lanka (94), West Indies (82), Zimbabwe (55) and Bangladesh (1).
The current (as on April 3, 2004) home-away points tally of Test-playing teams is shown in Table B.
-- How the rankings work...
| TABLE B: Test
Score Card (as on Apr 3, 2004) |
|
A W A Y |
| Aus |
Eng |
Ind |
NZ |
Pak |
RSA |
SL |
WI |
Zim |
H
O
M
E |
Australia |
|
4 / 5
4 / 5
|
1 / 3
2 / 4
|
3 / 3
1.5 / 3
|
3 / 3
3 / 3
|
2 / 3
3 / 3
|
3 / 3
3 / 3 |
3 / 4
5 / 5
|
1 / 1
2 / 2 |
| England |
1 / 5
1 / 5
|
|
1 / 3
2 / 4
|
1.5 / 3
1.5 / 4
|
2 / 3
1 / 2
|
2 / 5
2.5 / 5
|
1 / 3
2.5 / 3 |
2 / 6
3.5 / 5
|
1 / 2
2 / 2
|
| India |
2 / 4
2 / 3
|
2 / 4
2 / 3 |
|
0 / 2
1 / 2
|
2 / 4
1 / 3
|
0.5 / 2
0 / 2
|
1 / 3
1.5 / 3
|
2 / 5
2.5 / 3 |
1 / 2
2 / 2
|
| New Zealand |
1.5 / 3
0 / 3
|
2.5 / 4
1.5 / 3
|
1 / 2
2 / 2
|
|
0 / 1
0.5 / 2
|
0.5 / 3
1.5 / 3
|
1 / 2
2 / 2
|
1.5 / 2
2 / 2
|
2 / 2
0.5 / 1
|
| Pakistan |
0 / 3
0 / 3
|
1 / 2
1 / 3
|
2 / 3
2 / 4 |
1.5 / 2
1 / 1
|
|
0 / 2
1.5 / 2
|
2.5 / 3
1 / 4
|
1 / 3
2 / 2
|
2 / 2
1 / 3
|
| South Africa |
0 / 3
1 / 3
|
2.5 / 5
3 / 5
|
2 / 2
1.5 / 2
|
1.5 / 3
2.5 / 3
|
0.5 / 2
2 / 2
|
|
1.5 / 3
2 / 2
|
3 / 5
3.5 / 4
|
1 / 1
2 / 2
|
| Sri Lanka |
0 / 3
0 / 3
|
0.5 / 3
2 / 3
|
1.5 / 3
2 / 3
|
0 / 2
1 / 2
|
3 / 4
0.5 / 3
|
0 / 2
1.5 / 3
|
|
0.5 / 2
3 / 3 |
2 / 3
3 / 3
|
| West Indies |
0 / 5
1 / 4
|
1.5 / 5
4 / 6
|
0.5 / 3
3 / 5
|
0 / 2
0.5 / 2 |
0 / 2
2 / 3
|
0.5 / 4
2 / 5
|
0 / 3
1.5 / 2
|
|
1.5 / 2
2 / 2 |
| Zimbabwe |
0 / 2
0 / 1
|
0 / 2
1 / 2
|
0 / 2
1 / 2
|
0.5 / 1
0 / 2
|
2 / 3
0 / 2
|
0 / 2
0 / 1
|
0 / 3
1 / 3
|
0 / 2
0.5 / 2
|
|
Our next update will appear after the third and final Test between India and Pakistan at Rawalpindi.
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Design: Imran Shaikh
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