A 5-0 win against South Africa in the One Day International series starting in Lahore on 3 October 2003 will lift Pakistan above its opponent to second in the official ODI ratings.

A series whitewash would see Pakistan's rating climb to 114 while South Africa's would fall to 110. Pakistan is currently fourth in the ICC ODI Championship table with a rating of 107 and even a 3-2 or 4-1 series victory on home soil against South Africa will lift it above England to third in the standings.

Success for South Africa in the rescheduled tour will help it edge closer to leaders Australia, but even if it wins all of its matches its rating will only increase from 118 to 123 - still 12 behind the runaway leaders.

A convincing South Africa series win would reduce Pakistan's rating and its position in the table. With only three points currently separating the ratings of the middle six sides in the standings, a 4-1 away win would see Pakistan fall to seventh in the table, while a 5-0 thrashing would push them down to eighth behind all teams except Zimbabwe, Kenya and Bangladesh.

1. Australia - 135

2. South Africa - 118

3. England - 107

4. Pakistan - 107

5. West Indies - 106

6. New Zealand - 106

7. Sri Lanka - 105

8. India - 104

9. Zimbabwe - 63

10. Kenya - 28

11. Bangladesh - 0

Developed by David Kendix

Clive Lloyd from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees will officiate on the series while Darrell Hair from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires will stand in all five matches alongside officials appointed by the home board.

This will be the first series to use the Professional Edition of the Duckworth/Lewis method of target resetting.

How the ICC ODI ratings work:

The formula used by the ICC to determine points takes into account the following factors:

- results from all ODI matches played over the previous two to three years
- strength of opposition, with greater reward for beating higher ranked opponents
- greater importance is placed on more recent results, with older matches dropped every 12 months
- all matches have equal status, with no account taken of venue or margin of victory

The points awarded are then divided by the number of matches played in the valid period to produce a rating.