England's Kevin Pietersen (right). - file

England player Kevin Pietersen has gone top of the LG ICC player rankings for one-day international (ODI) batsmen for the first time in his career following a solid start to the ICC Cricket World Cup for the 26-year-old.

So far in the tournament Pietersen has scored a total of 121 runs at an average of 60.50, including half-centuries against New Zealand and Kenya in Group C. He is the first England player to top the rankings since Marcus Trescothick did so for one match in 2005 and only the third in history with Allan Lamb doing so back in 1989.

Pietersen replaces Michael Hussey at the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen as the Australia left-hander has had a string of low scores in recent weeks. Hussey has dropped two places to third position while his captain Ricky Ponting moves up to second.

However, it is still very tight between those three, with just 12 ratings points separating them, so there is plenty of time left in the ICC Cricket World Cup for Hussey to remedy the situation and claim back top spot.

There has been plenty of other movement within the top 10 batsmen with Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara moving up three places to fourth position, South Africa captain Graeme Smith up four places to fifth spot, level with Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India who has dropped three places.

Veteran Sri Lanka opener Sanath Jayasuriya is also moving in the right direction, up three places to seventh position while Chris Gayle of the West Indies and Andrew Symonds of Australia have both dropped three places to eighth and ninth positions respectively.

Meanwhile, New Zealand pacer Shane Bond has climbed to second position in the LG ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers for the first time, illustrating the good form that the Black Caps are in at present.

Bond has moved up five places and is now level in second spot with Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who, following a brilliant start to the tournament for him, is up seven places for his highest ranking for more than a year.

They are both, however, still a long way short of displacing South Africa's Shaun Pollock at the top. Pollock was uncharacteristically expensive against Australia in Saturday's Group A match at Warner Park, St. Kitts, but is still some 155 ratings points clear of Bond and Muralitharan at the top of the rankings.