Monday, 9th April 2007 at 8:47 am

South Africa: world’s second-best team…

If the ‘world’s best one-day team’ moniker was starting to ring a little hollow, then here’s some relief - it’s no longer ours. The LG ICC ratings - not as convoluted as Duckworth-Lewis, but born of a similarly mystic turn of arithmetic - ranks the world’s one-day sides, and after the series win over Pakistan pre-World Cup, and Australia’s run of indifferent form at the same time, South Africa emerged at the top of the heap.

And despite losing to Australia in the pool game, Graeme Smith’s team clung on to the lead (by literally a fraction of a point) at the April 1 cut-off, good enough for a US$175 000 reward from the ICC. But the combination of the Bangladesh upset, and Australia’s win over England on Sunday, means it’s all change, and Australia are back on top.

If the tournament ends with that order unchanged, then the large pile of US dollars will be scant consolation, given the bubbling optimism with which South Africa arrived at the tournament. Australia’s 100 percent run thus far has an ominous look to it, and while an attack without Shane Watson has a touch of vulnerability to it, the team as a whole looks a far more complete and assured unit than South Africa at the moment. The one-day rankings can still change before the tournament draws to a close; the odds on anyone but Australia being on top, however, are shrinking by the day.