With knocks of 141 not out and 96 in two of his last three innings, De Kock has done enough to move into 10th.

The Proteas coach, Mark Boucher, lauded De Kock for his impact on the series.

“Quinny's been through a tough time of late and hasn't had the same amount of runs he would have loved to have scored in the past.

“The way he's been hitting the ball in the nets and the way he's been off the field has been fantastic, while his chats in the changing room have been funny and light-hearted.

“Quinny in that space will always reflect how he'll play on the field. For those of you who aren't here, that 141 not out of his could have been 200 because the outfield was very slow.

“The 96 he got in the first innings was worth 120, so he was the X-factor in the whole series. When he just takes the game away from the opposition, it's always nice to be on his side.”

Lower down the rankings, the captain Dean Elgar moved up one spot to 18th, while his fellow opener, Aidan Markram, dropped down to 19th. Rassie van der Dussen in his turn jumped 31 places to 43rd.

Meanwhile, follow the Test team's 2-0 series win over the West Indies, the Proteas have climbed one place up to 6th in the rankings, while the Windies dropped to 7th.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport