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India reclaim number one spot in ICC ODI rankings after thumping Australia in Nagpur

India beat Australia by 7 wickets in the fifth and final ODI in Nagpur to regain the world no. 1 spot in the latest ICC ODI rankings.

ICC ODI Rankings Image Source : APVirat Kohli celebrates series win over Australia with teammates in Nagpur

India toppled South Africa from the top of International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI team rankings after beating Australia in the fifth and final ODI in Nagpur.  With this win, Virat Kohli and his men are now leading the charts with 120 rating points, ahead of South Africa (119). Despite the 1-4 loss against India, Steve Smith's side have managed to retain the third spot with 114 points in the rankings.

Earlier,  India moved to number 1 in the ICC ODI rankings after claiming the series 3-0 following their victory in the third ODI in Indore last Sunday. But, India were dropped to number two position after Australia got the better of the hosts in the Bengaluru ODI. However, with this win - the Indian team have reclaimed the coveted numero uno spot with a complete performance against the strong Australian side.

India now hold the number spots in both ICC Test and ODI rankings. Also, India's latest series victory against Australia was their sixth successive win in a bilateral ODI series against all teams - Zimbabwe (2016), New Zealand (2016), England (2017), West Indies (2017) and Sri Lanka (2017). 

In the fifth ODI, opener Rohit Sharma struck a century as India thump Australia by seven wickets in the fifth and final one-day international (ODI) at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground on Sunday to end the five-match series on a winning note. (SCORECARD)

India have thus won the series 4-1.  

Chasing a modest target of 243 runs, India crossed the line with 43 balls still to go. Sharma and fellow opener Ajinkya Rahane put on a 124-run partnership in 22.3 overs which virtually sealed the match in India's favour.

Sharma plundered 125 runs off 109 balls with his knock featuring 11 impressive boundaries and five hits over the fence. 

Rahane played a steady knock of 61 runs off 74 balls which included seven boundaries.

Earlier, the Indian bowlers put in a disciplined performance to restrict the visitors to 242/9. Axar Patel was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts as he picked up 3/38 in his quota of 10 overs

In-form opener David Warner was the highest scorer for Australia with 53 runs off 62 balls.