Amla KOs India skipper Dhoni

Hashim Alma has knocked Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni off the No.2 spot in the world one-day batting rankings, moving up after scoring two consecutive centuries against Zimbabwe.

Amla, who scored 110, 110 and 24 in the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, is now level with Australian batsman Mike Hussey who moved up one position after scoring 69 in the only completed ODI against India in Visakhapatnam last week.

Amla’s rise means South Africa now have two of their top-order batsmen inside the top three with AB de Villiers, who earlier this month won the ICC ODI Player of the Year award at the awards in Bengaluru, in top position.

Making big strides in the latest rankings, updated after the end of the series bewteen India and Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and New Zealand series, are Virat Kohli of India and Bangladesh batsman Shakib Al Hasan.

Kohli, who scored a match-winning 118 against Australia in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam, has rocketed 11 places into 13th position which makes him the fourth highest-ranked Indian batsman after Mahendra Singh Dhoni (fourth, down by two places), Virender Sehwag (seventh, up by one place) and Sachin Tendulkar (eighth, up by two places).

Shakib, who was the leading run-getter in the series against New Zealand with 213 runs (including a century and a half-century) has vaulted 15 places to sit just outside the top 20 in 26th position.

Also moving in the right direction are Michael Clarke in 14th (up by three places), Cameron White in 21st (up by five places), Suresh Raina in 24th (up by three places), JP Duminy in 29th (up by seven places) and Imrul Kayes in 56th (up by 27 places).

Apart from Dhoni, batsmen losing ground in the latest rankings include Jacques Kallis in 10th (down by three places), Graeme Smith in 16th (down by three places), Ross Taylor in 20th (down by four places), Brendon McCullum in 27th (down by six places) and Elton Chigumbura in 64th (down by five places).

In the rankings for bowlers, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori continues to lead the field with Shakib second and England off-spinner Graeme Swann third.

The biggest mover in the latest table is South Africa off-spinner Johan Botha who has climbed six places to occupy 14th position. Doug Bollinger of Australia and Zimbabwe spinner Ray Price have improved their rankings by one place each and are now in sixth and seventh positions, respectively.

There are couple of changes in the top five of the all-rounders with Shane Watson slipping to third place and Kallis dropping to fifth spot.

These changes have put Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi into second position while Vettori is now in fourth spot.

In the championship rankings, India have gained two ratings points while South Africa hace earned one ratings point. As such, India are now on their own in second place on 117 points while South Africa have 116 ratings points.

The two sides, along with Sri Lanka, were locked on 115 ratings points before the start of their respective series.

Australia’s loss by five wickets in Visakhapatnam has resulted in them conceding two ratings points. They now sit on 130 ratings points, 13 ahead of second-placed India.

The ODI action now moves to the United Arab Emirates where sixth-ranked Pakistan and third-placed South Africa go head to head in a five-match series which starts at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday.