Pakistan and New Zealand resume battle for fourth place

Hussey replaces Yuvraj in second place as India fast bowlers are on a chargeBangladesh's Shakib returns to the top 20 while Price becomes highest-ranked Zimbabwe bowler in 14th place

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Pakistan and New Zealand resume their battle for fourth place in the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship when they go head to head in the three-match series at Abu Dhabi from Tuesday.

New Zealand, which had leapfrogged Pakistan into its current position after defeating Younus Khan's side by five wickets in the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 semi-final at The Wanderers on 3 October, currently sits on 110 ratings points while Pakistan is just one ratings point behind.

However, the green shirts can regain fourth place if it wins the three-match ODI series to be played at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

If Pakistan wins the series 3-0 it will jump to 115 ratings points while New Zealand will drop to seventh position on 104 ratings points. A 2-1 series win for Pakistan will take it to 111 ratings points and will push New Zealand to 108 ratings points.

A clean sweep of the series will help New Zealand strengthen its fourth position on 115 ratings points while Pakistan will slip to seventh on 104 ratings points. A 2-1 series win for the Black Caps will earn it one rating point which will take Daniel Vettori's side to 112 ratings points while Pakistan will concede two ratings points to drop to 108 ratings points.

Meanwhile, the fight for the coveted number-one position is getting interesting with second-placed India narrowing the gap with leader Australia to just one ratings point after taking a 2-1 lead in the seven-match ODI series.

India, which had trailed Australia by four ratings points before the start of the series, can go ahead of Australia if it wins the fourth ODI at Mohali on Monday. An Australian victory will mean Ricky Ponting's side will open the gap to three ratings points.

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In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to lead the table but Australia vice-captain Mike Hussey has jumped three places to take second spot while India vice-captain Yuvraj Singh has slipped to third position.

Hussey had trailed Yuvraj by 12 points before the start of the series but scores of 73, 53 and 81 not out have helped him earn 38 points and he is now just eight points away from breaking into the 800-point mark.

The other batsman to make an upward movement is India's Gautam Gambhir who has climbed two places to 14th position but his team-mate Virender Sehwag has dropped two places to 12th spot.

The biggest movers in the latest batting rankings are Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal of Bangladesh, and Hamilton Masakadza of Zimbabwe. Bangladesh leads the five-match ODI series 2-1.

Shakib, who scored a whirlwind 105 not out off 69 balls which included15 fours and three sixes in the second ODI, has broken into the top 20 after jumping five places to 20th spot while Tamim, who has scored 111 in the series to date, has moved up four spots to 31st place.

Masakadza, who is the leading run-getter in the series with 128 runs, has jumped 19 places to 38th position.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, Zimbabwe left-arm spinner Ray Price has achieved a career-best 14th rank after rising nine places while Bangladesh's left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has rocketed 17 places to 23rd spot.

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has slipped two places to 13th while India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has dropped one place to share the 19th spot with New Zealand's Jacob Oram.

Outside the top 20, India fast bowlers Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra are heading in the right direction. Kumar has moved to 22nd position after rising three places, Sharma has jumped four places to 30th spot and Nehra has shot 22 places to 70th.

The list is still headed by New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Mills who leads Sri Lanka's Nuwan Kulasekara by 10 points with Vettori another two points behind in third place.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI all-rounders, Australia's Shane Watson has dropped out of the top five. Watson has slipped five places to ninth, allowing Oram to return to fifth place.