15 February 2005	Tuesday	05 Muharram 1426

LONDON, Feb 14: South Africa has climbed from seventh to fifth in the ICC ODI Championship table, overtaking England in the process.

South Africa's 4-1 series win over England has boosted its rating from 101 to 106, enabling it to climb above England and West Indies - who they tour next month - in official ODI table.

England began the series in fourth place on 109 points but its rating has fallen by six points and it has slipped to seventh in the table. In ICC ODI player rankings, Jacques Kallis has slipped from top place in batting rankings (a position he held briefly in middle of series with England), but Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock, South Africa's other two leading players, both improved their rankings.

Smith ends the series 14th in batting rankings, while Pollock is second in bowling, just three points behind Glenn McGrath. Ramnaresh Sarwan has become top batsman after Kallis lost points in final three ODIs.

Darren Gough's excellent series saw him return to bowling top ten - he finished in eighth place - while Kevin Pietersen's dramatic start to his ODI career sees him already in 25th place in batting rankings. -Agencies