Dubai: Australia has regained the number-one spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship after defeating South Africa by 141 runs in the first ODI of the five-match series in Durban on Friday.

Australia, which surrendered its top position to the Proteas after stand-in captain Johan Botha inspired his side to 4-1 victory in Australia earlier this year, had started the series trailing Graeme Smith s side by one ratings point. And such is the competitiveness at the top of the table that victory in the first ODI has given Australia a swing of three points as it now sits on 125 with South Africa on 123.

ICC Rankings

However, South Africa still has a chance to finish the series in number-one position if it wins the series 3-2 or better. On the other hand, to return home with the number-one tag Australia needs to win the series 3-2 or better while a 4-1 victory will put it on 127 ratings points and will drop South Africa to third position behind India on 121.

England's 3-2 victory over the West Indies has earned Andrew Strauss' side one ratings point as it closes the gap with fifth-placed Pakistan to just three. The West Indies has stayed in eighth position on 92.

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar vaulted two places to 11th spot, gathering 703 points with an average of 44.37, in the ODI batsman ranking, which is led by Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Dhoni retained the top slot with 815 points in his kitty, while left-hand batsman Yuvraj Singh (5th), Virender Sehwag (7th) and Gautam Gambhir (17th) slipped down by one rung each, an ICC release said.

Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, who figures 15th after sliding down by one step, is the only Indian among the top-twenty ODI bowlers. Zaheer has an economy rate of 4.86.

The bowlers' list is headed by Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Kulasekara.

Yuvraj with 340 points maintains his fourth place in the list of top-five all-rounders, which has Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh on the top.