The opportunity to wrest the mantle of world number one may have been lost by the South African cricketers but Proteas captain Graeme Smith says it's important his side win the series against New Zealand convincingly.
South Africa could have supplanted England at the top of the ICC's test rankings if they achieved a 3-0 series win over New Zealand.
However with the rain-interupted first test in Dunedin ending in a draw that chance is gone, although Smith says with a tour of England looming, his side needs to beat the eighth ranked Black Caps to boost their confidence ahead of that trip.
