ISLAMABAD, June 14: Pakistan need to win by a simple margin in the forthcoming one-day series against England to maintain their third place in world ODI rankings, according to statistics available here on Saturday.

Pakistan, currently trailing Australia and South Africa in ODI rankings, can take a six-point lead over fourth-placed Sri Lanka should they win 3-0 but in the unlikely event of a 0-3 loss in the three-matches series, the gap would be reduced to just one point.

A successful summer on home soil, starting with the first NatWest Challenge match against Pakistan at Old Trafford on Tuesday, could propel England from eighth to third place in the ICC ODI Championship table.

England — currently eighth in the table — go into their first One-day International matches since the World Cup with the potential to climb rapidly up the ratings.

Latest ICC ODI Championship table:

Team Matches Points Rating

Australia 53 7013 132

South Africa 57 6972 122

Pakistan 54 5930 110

Sri Lanka 67 7132 106

India 58 6047 104

West Indies 45 4637 103

New Zealand 50 5027 101

England 34 3337 98

Zimbabwe 44 2844 65

Kenya 25 704 28

Bangladesh 23 101 4

—APP