De Villiers joins Amla at the top of ODI rankings

AB de Villiers has joined Hashim Amla at the top of the ICC ODI batting rankings following an excellent series with the bat against Pakistan, which South Africa won 3-2. De Villiers scored three half-centuries and a century in five games, averaging 91.75. Both he and Amla are now tied on 882 points in the rankings.

De Villiers, who scored 367 runs in that series, had previously reached the top of the ODI rankings in May 2010. Tillakaratne Dilshan, who scored a century against Bangladesh in the first ODI in Hambantota, has moved up three places to No.7 and Virat Kohli is currently at No.3.

There's only one more ODI remaining before the April 1 cut-off date, and India have retained their position at the top of the table. England are No.2, and could have been displaced by South Africa had the latter beaten Pakistan 4-1 in the recently-concluded series. But a 3-2 win meant England kept their place.

India, being No.1, will collect a cheque of US$175,000 together with the shield at the next ICC awards, and England will receive US$75,000 for taking the second place.