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| August 30, 2006 | Wednesday | Sha'aban 5, 1427 |
England keen to end losing habit
DUBAI, Aug 29: England will be keen to justify their direct entry into ICC Champions Trophy when they take on Pakistan in the five-match one-day series. England qualified for eight-nation knock-out event by virtue of their No 6 ranking on April 1.
But Andrew Strauss’ men have since fallen to eighth place in ICC one-day team rankings.
On other hand, Sri Lanka beat England 5-0 in a recent series and have moved to sixth place.
England need to win the Pakistan series to make significant progress up ranking ladder.
A 3-2 success would take them ahead of seventh-placed West Indies while a 5-0 clean sweep would be enough to see them also overtake Sri Lanka.
On positive note for touring side, a 5-0 clean sweep would lift them to 121 rating points, just two points behind second-placed South Africa. Australia lead table, eight rating points clear of their closest rival.—Agencies
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