Vernon Philander powers his way to 2nd spot in Test rankings

Vernon Philander helped South Africa beat England at the Lord's and claim the number 1 Test spot in team rankings. The pacer, with his seven-wicket haul also achieved a career best ranking as he has moved into the second place in the list of top-Test bowlers.

Philander's performance in the third Test against England was good enough to earn him the man of the match award. He took two wickets in the first innings and followed it up with a torrid five-wicket spell to rattle the hosts. Late on the fourth day, he dented England's final chase by claiming two wickets - Alastair Cook (1) and Andrew Strauss (3) - both trapped before the wicket. He returned the next day to first remove Ian Bell (4) and then dismiss a fighting Matt Prior (73), a crucial blow for his side. The final wicket of Steven Finn also went his way.

Philander also contributed with the bat with personal scores of 61 and 35 which has also added 40 points to his credit in the list of Test batsmen. The same list has also seen man of the series - Hashim Amla - take the second spot overall. Amla plundered 482 runs at an average of 120.5 from his outing in England. He trails Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara by 23 rating points.

JP Duminy of South Africa and England's Jonny Bairstow are the other batsmen to head in the right direction.