March 02, 2008	Sunday	Safar 23, 1429

DUBAI, March 1: Australia have been confirmed as the top seed for this year’s ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan after the completion of the league matches of the ongoing tri-series in Melbourne on Friday.

Australia, current holders of the Champions Trophy, will top the ICC One-day International rankings on the March 12 cut-off date irrespective of how they fare against India in the best-of-three finals over the next week.

South Africa, winners of the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1998, will be seeded second - followed by New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England and West Indies. The groupings will be announced on March 12.

If India manage to seal the tri-series in the first two games, Australia will drop to 127 points but will remain fractionally ahead of South Africa. If they beat India with a game to spare Australia will go to 132 points. India will, in this scenario, remain on 110 points. A 2-1 win for Australia would put them on 130 points while India would return home on 111.

The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in September and October.—Agencies