Alastair Cook and captain Joe Root all smiles after the series win against South Africa/Getty Images

England leapfrogged Australia to take third place in the ICC Test Team Rankings after clinching a 3-1 victory over South Africa in the four-match Test series on Monday.

Moeen Ali bowls England to South Africa series win

England beat South Africa by 177 runs in the fourth Test to seal a 3-1 series win

England?s 177-run victory at Old Trafford helped it gain six points to reach 105 points, five ahead of Australia, who will host the next Ashes series from November 23, 2017 to January 8, 2018 in a bid to regain the urn from England.

South Africa lost seven points to slide to 110 points, but remain in second place.

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India, which currently lead three-Test series against Sri Lanka 2-0, remain comfortably placed at the top and will continue to do so irrespective of the result of the last match.