NEW DELHI, Oct 26: Australia captain Ricky Ponting collected the one-day championship shield on Sunday for his team’s move to the top of the world rankings.

The Australians regained top spot after defeating the West Indies in the opening game of the five-match One-day International series in St Vincent in June.

The shield was presented to Ponting here by Inderjit Bindra, principal adviser to the International Cricket Council (ICC), ahead of the third Test against India starting on Wednesday.

“It’s good for Australia to hold the ICC ODI Championship shield once again,” Ponting said.

“Following our success in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007 we were challenged at the top of the rankings by a good South Africa team but we pride ourselves on improvement.

“I’m pleased that we’ve played well enough recently in ODI cricket to regain this prestigious award.”

Bindra hailed Australia’s performance in the 50-over format over the year.

“For me Australia has always been an exciting side and is the worthy holder of the ICC ODI Championship shield as it has shown remarkable consistency in winning 25 of the 34 ODIs, with three no-results, since April 1, 2007.

“It retained the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies last year and reclaimed the number-one position by making a clean sweep of the five-match series against the West Indies.”

ICC One-day Championship standings:

1. Australia 131 points; 2. South Africa 118; 3. England 116; 4. New Zealand 113; 5. India 113; 6. Pakistan 110; 7. Sri Lanka 105; 8. West Indies 95; 9. Bangladesh 47; 10. Ireland 19; 11. Zimbabwe 15; 12. Kenya 14.—AFP