BRIDGETOWN, April 23: Seven of the top 10 batsmen in the latest ICC rankings are from teams involved in this week's World Cup semi-finals.

Of the top 10 only Kevin Pietersen, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni will not be in Jamaica or St Lucia on Tuesday and Wednesday for the penultimate stage of the competition.

Sri Lanka opener Sanath Jayasuriya has moved up to third following his run of good form while there have also been moves in the right direction for Sarwan of the West Indies, A.B. de Villiers and Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa and Australians Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke.

Hayden has moved up one place to seventh spot and is enjoying his highest rating for nearly three years following his third century of the World Cup against New Zealand on Friday.

England's Pietersen is still on top spot, closely followed by Australia captain Ricky Ponting in second. Sarwan's good showing in the Super Eight stage of the tournament has propelled him up no fewer than 10 places to sixth.

In the bowling rankings, South Africa's Shaun Pollock is still in front but he is slowly being caught by Shane Bond and the latest Australian fast bowler to make a challenge, Nathan Bracken.

The 29-year-old New South Welshman has moved past his team-mate Glenn McGrath and now occupies third spot.

Another Australian to have an excellent tournament so far is Brad Hogg.

He has moved up nine places to 14th and 19 places since the World Cup began. Hogg's team-mate Shaun Tait is also in impressive form, having moved up 66 places since the start of the tournament, into the top 50 for the first time.

Batsmen: 1. Kevin Pietersen (England) 827 points, 2. Ricky Ponting (Australia) 804, 3. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) 769, 4. Mike Hussey (Australia) 766, 5. Graeme Smith (South Africa) 753, 6. Ramnaresh Sarwan (West Indies) 746, 7. Matthew Hayden (Australia) 743, 8. Mahendra Dhoni (India) 739, 9. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 733, 10. Andrew Symonds (Australia) 720.

Bowlers: 1. Shaun Pollock (South Africa) 900 points, 2. Shane Bond (New Zealand) 807, 3. Nathan Bracken (Australia) 784, 4. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) 775, 5. Glenn McGrath (Australia) 765, 6. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 752, 7. Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) 703, 8. Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) 697, 9. Brett Lee (Australia) 693, 10. Abdur Razzaq (Bangladesh) 685.—AFP