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Dubai, June 5 (ANI): South Africa opener Hashim Amla has claimed a career-best fourth position to date in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen after stellar performances in the five-ODI series against the West Indies which concluded on Thursday.

Amla, who had started the series in 25th position, has climbed 21 places after scores of 102, 92, 34, 129 and 45 to now share the fourth spot with India’s Sachin Tendulkar.

The 27-year-old from Durban had entered the last three matches of the series in 12th position and jumped eight places after scoring 208 runs. A series aggregate of 402 runs also earned him the player of the series award.

A B de Villiers, who was the second most successful run-getter in the series, has consolidated his third position and is now just two ratings points behind India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has lost his top position to Australia’s Michael Hussey after deciding to skip on the ongoing triangular series in Zimbabwe. A player loses half a percent of his ratings points for every match he misses and, as such, Dhoni has already lost 12 ratings points.

However, South Africa skipper Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis have failed to retain their positions.

Smith, who scored 119 runs in the series, has dropped out of the top 10 in 12th position after starting the series in eighth position while Kallis has slipped one place to eighth spot after scoring 225 runs in the series.

For the West Indies, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan have slipped to sixth and 28th positions respectively, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul has retained his ninth position after scoring 157 runs in the series.

After a successful ODI series, Amla will now be chasing India opener Virender Sehwag’s number-one position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen when the three-Test series starts in Port of Spain from Thursday 10 June.

Amla is in second place and trails Sehwag by 21 ratings points. A good performance in Port of Spain could potentially put him ahead of the Indian to give South Africa top positions in the batting, bowling and all-rounders’ table. Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis lead the field in the Test bowlers and all-rounders’ categories.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, South Africa’s Dale Steyn has climbed three places to sixth spot after claiming four wickets in three matches.

Morne Morkel, who was the most successful bowler in the series with 13 wickets, has rocketed 13 places to occupy his highest position to date, 26th, while the West Indies’ Kieron Pollard, who took 11 wickets, has also jumped 13 places to sit in 78th position.

However, South Africa off-spinner Johan Botha has dropped four places to 18th position after managing only four wickets in five matches.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for all-rounders, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis has climbed two places to third spot after bagging three wickets besides scoring 225 runs.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship, South Africa has joined India on 119 ratings points but is ranked third when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point. However, if India loses to Sri Lanka in Harare on Saturday, India will drop behind South Africa in third position on 118 ratings points.

In contrast, India’s victory over Sri Lanka in Harare will put it on 120 ratings points - one ahead of South Africa. (ANI)