South Africa will have a chance to close in on the world record of longest unbeaten run in the limited over cricket matches as they go into the five-match one-day international series against India, beginning in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
The African team, who are just three matches away from the record, are unbeaten in their last 19 matches (16 wins, two no-results and a tie) to be just two games short of Australia's record mark of 21.
Surprisingly, the Graeme Smith-led team had managed just one win in their previous 13 matches, before their current run.
Since then they have beaten England, Zimbabwe, the West Indies and New Zealand and have surged up the LG ICC ODI Championship table.
South Africa currently sit in second spot on 120 points, 16 behind leaders Australia, but a clean sweep of the series against Rahul Dravid's side will lift them to 127 points and drop India, currently in seventh place on 107 points, back to 103 points.
A 4-1 victory would see the Proteas rise to 123 points (India would slip to 106), while a 3-2 margin for the touring side would see them maintain their current rating of 120 while India would rise 1 point, to 108.
The home side goes into this series on the back of a thumping 6-1 success against Sri Lanka and those victories have left them within touching distance of a host of sides above them in the LG ICC ODI Championship table.
India are just one point behind sixth-placed New Zealand and only two behind Sri Lanka and England, which occupy fourth and fifth spots on the table respectively.
A clean sweep of the series would lift them to 114 points overtaking all the above mentioned sides plus the Proteas (who would slip to110 points), and into third place with only Pakistan and Australia ahead of them.
A 4-1 success for India would raise their rating to 112 points and cut South Africa's to 113, while even a 3-2 success for the home team would take them above New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka, to 110 points (South Africa would drop to 117).
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