Jacques Kallis has become South Africa's highest-ranked batsman after replacing Graeme Smith in the top 10 International Cricket Council player rankings for Test batsmen.
The 34-year-old, who scored 120 and four in the Centurion Test against England, has climbed three places to eighth in the latest rankings.
In contrast, Smith, who scored a duck and 12 at Centurion, has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in 16 months after sliding four places to 11th position.
Australia's Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting, Andrew Strauss of England and South Africa's Ashwell Prince have suffered similar fates after disappointing performances with the bat at Centurion and in Perth.
Clarke has dropped two places to sixth, Ponting has slipped two places to 14th, Strauss has dropped three places to 17th and Prince has slipped five places to 18th.
Gautam Gambhir of India leads the batting table with Sri Lanka pair of Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara in second and third places, respectively.
In the rankings for Test bowlers the list is still headed by South Africa's Dale Steyn with Australia's Mitchell Johnson second and Muttiah Muralidaran of Sri Lanka third.
For Test all-rounders the list is still headed by Kallis followed by the Blackcaps Daniel Vettori, Johnson and Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan.
India lead the team rankings list with South Africa second and Australia third.
The Blackcaps are currently ranked seventh.
