India dropped to the third spot in the ICC ODI rankings after Australia regained top spot after their 6-0 lead against England.

Ricky Ponting's side beat the home team by 111 runs at Trent Bridge on Thursday and moved ahead of South Africa by a fraction of a ratings point.

Australia need to win the last ODI of the series to stay on top. An England win in the final match would consign Australia back to the third place.

As a result of Australia's rise, second-placed India dropped to third while England stayed in seventh position, three ratings points behind New Zealand in sixth.

The ICC Champions Trophy gets underway in South Africa on September 22 and with just a single point separating Australia from India, a rankings battle looks on the cards over the next couple of weeks.

The Rankings: 1. Australia (127), 2. South Africa (127), 3. India (126), 4. Pakistan (109), 5. Sri Lanka (108), 6. New Zealand (105), 7. England (102), 8. West Indies (78), 9.Bangladesh (55), 10. Zimbabwe (26).