Irfan Pathan moves up in bowler and allrounder's lists

Dubai, May 2 (UNI) Irfan Pathan moved up two places waiting to break into bowlers top 10 and Daniel Vettori's poor show helped the Indian move up to the third place in the allrounder's table as well, according to the latest LG ICC Player Rankings.

India has only one bowler, Anil Kumble (9th), in the top 10 and Pathan is placed 11th.

In the batsmen's top 10, captain Rahul Dravid is the lone Indian entry at third place, while Virender Sehwag is 12th and Sachin Tendulkar at 17th.

New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, whose 262 was one of the major highlights of the drawn second Test against South Africa in Cape Town, has moved back into the top 20 of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

The Black Caps captain, who batted for more than nine-and-a-half hours to compile the score, has jumped 10 places to 14th in the list, his highest placing since 1997, the year he took charge of the team.

Fleming is not the only New Zealand batsman making progress up the batting list as James Franklin, who made his maiden Test hundred in Cape Town, is up 18 places to 101st position -- according to an ICC release here today.

Like New Zealand, South Africa has just one player among the top 20 batsmen, Jacques Kallis. He remains in second position behind Australia captain Ricky Ponting but retains his spot at the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders.

Ashwell Prince, who made his fourth Test hundred during the Newlands match, is up 18 places to 41st while Hashim Amla, whose 149 was his first three-figure score at the highest level, rose 64 places to 104th.

With the ball, Franklin is also climbed, rising two places to 17th in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, but his team-mate Daniel Vettori dropps two spots and is now in joint 23rd position, alongside the West Indies' Corey Collymore.

New Zealand's highest-placed bowler in the list is Shane Bond in 10th. The paceman is missing from the series because of a knee injury.

South Africa still have three bowlers in the top 20 with Makhaya Ntini retaining second position behind Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka while Shaun Pollock remains 12th and Andre Nel is joint 13th, down two spots and sharing that place with Danish Kaneria of Pakistan.

Vettori has dropped one spot in the all-rounder's table, allowing Irfan Pathan of India to move up to third position behind Kallis and England's Andrew Flintoff. Pollock remains in fifth place.

The final Test of the series, beginning in Johannesburg on Friday, will have huge significance and not only because, with South Africa 1-0 up after winning the first Test at Centurion, it will decide the series.

The match at The Wanderers will also decide fifth and sixth places in the LG ICC Test Championship table with a South Africa win or a draw enough to see the home side jump over their opponents and into the higher position. New Zealand has to win to retain that fifth spot.

LG ICC Test Batting Rankings (Top 10): 1. Ricky Ponting, AUS (931); 2. Jacques Kallis, SA (866); 3. Rahul Dravid, IND (842); 4. Inzamam-ul Haq, PAK (831); 5.

Matthew Hayden, AUS (808(; 6. Brian Lara, WI (800); 7. Younis Khan, PAK (796); 8. Mohammad Yousuf, PAK (780); 8. Mike Hussey, AUS (780); 10. Marcus Trescothick, ENG (745).

LG ICC Test Bowling Rankings (Top 10): 1. Muttiah Muralitharan, SL (864); 2. Makhaya Ntini, SA (838); 3. Shane Warne, AUS (813); 4. Glenn McGrath, AUS (811); 5. Matthew Hoggard, ENG (780); 6. Andrew Flintoff, ENG (777); 7. Shoaib Akhtar, PAK (751); 8. Chaminda Vaas, SL (745); 9. Anil Kumble, IND (731); 10. Shane Bond, NZ (727).

LG ICC Test All-rounder Rankings: 1. Jacques Kallis, SA; 2. Andrew Flintoff, ENG; 3. Irfan Pathan, IND; 4. Daniel Vettori, NZ; 5. Shaun Pollock, SA.

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