De Villiers, Michael Clarke top-ranked test batsmen

South Africas De Villiers has reached the number-one batting position for the first time in his career where he is joined by Australia captain Michael Clarke in the ICC Test rankings released Friday.Indias Sachin Tendulkar is at 12th position in the batsmens standings while Zaheer Khan is the highest-ranked Indian bowler at 12th.De Villiers move to the top of the batting chart is due to a combination of his own good performances in the Hamilton and Wellington Tests, as well as Kumar Sangakkaras disappointing show with the bat against England at Galle.De Villiers scored 83 in South Africas nine wickets victory over New Zealand in the Hamilton Test and then followed up with 38 and 68 in the drawn Wellington Test. These performances have helped him earn 35 ratings points which have given him a career-best rating of 821 and a lift of two places.Sangakkara, who had entered the Galle Test as the number-one ranked Test batsman, scored nought and 14 in Sri Lankas 75 runs victory over England. This meant the former Sri Lanka captain has dropped from 850 ratings points to 813 ratings point which cost him three places in the table.Jacques Kallis, de Villiers team-mate, has also slipped one position to third after managing just six runs in his only innings in Hamilton and then missing the Wellington Test.So the fall of Kallis and Sangakkara has helped Michael Clarke regain the number-one position -a week before he leads his side in the three-Test series against the West Indies. It is the second time Clarke has headed the batting table after he first topped the batting list in August 2009 after he scored 93 against England in Australias victory by an innings and 80 runs in the Leeds Test.In the bowlers rankings, South Africas Vernon Philander has continued to climb up the chart. The fast bowler had figures of four for 70 and six for 44 in Hamilton and six for 81 and none for 29 in Wellington.Sri Lankas Rangana Herath is the other bowler to earn a career-best rating and ranking. The left-arm spinner took six for 74 and six for 97 for which he earned 92 ratings points which has put him on 752 ratings points and a seventh position in the bowling charts after a rise of six places