Cape Town - Quinton de Kock's batting performances in New Zealand have seen him reach record new heights in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen.
The Proteas wicketkeeper/batsman scored 210 runs at an average of 52.5 in the recently completed three-match series, and that has been enough to see him rise four places to a career-high sixth in the rankings.
That makes him South Africa's highest-ranked batsman, ahead of Hashim Amla (10th), AB de Villiers (12th) and Faf du Plessis (18th).
De Kock, who played in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2012, is also ranked sixth and 23rd in the ICC ODI and T20I batting rankings, respectively.
Meanwhile, Australia captain Steve Smith continues in the No 1 position and is currently 61 points ahead of his New Zealand opposite number, Kane Williamson, who has moved up two places to second following his 176 in the Hamilton Test against the Proteas.
Smith had entered Australia's Test series against India leading Virat Kohli by 38 points, and finished as the most successful batsman with 499 runs in eight innings.
Top 20 in the latest ICC Test ranking for batsmen:
1. Steve
Smith (Aus)
941
2. Kane
Williamson (NZ) 880
3. Joe
Root (Eng) 848
4. Cheteshwar Pujara
(Ind) 846
5. Virat
Kohli (Ind) 818
6. Quinton de
Kock (SA) 802
7. Azhar
Ali (Pak) 779
8. Younus
Khan (Pak) 772
9. David
Warner (Aus) 759
10. Hashim
Amla (SA) 748
11. Lokesh Rahul (Ind) 739
12. AB de
Villiers (SA) 732
13. Jonny Bairstow (Eng) 731
14. Ajinkya
Rahane (Ind) 726
15. Alastair Cook (Eng) 720
16. Usman
Khawaja (Aus) 718
17. Ross
Taylor (NZ) 705
18. Faf du
Plessis (SA) 690
19. Angelo
Mathews (SL) 688
20. Kraigg Brathwaite (WI) 677