Sajid Mahmood believes England will be inspired by Kevin Pietersen's coronation as the world's top one-day batsman.

The 26-year-old Hampshire batsman, who only made his one-day international debut three years ago, becomes only the third England player in history to reach the top of the ICC rankings.

Only Marcus Trescothick in 2005 and Allan Lamb back in 1989 have reached the pinnacle before him, and it follows an impressive start to the World Cup with half-centuries against New Zealand and Kenya.

He replaces Australian batsman Mike Hussey at the top of the rankings and Lancashire seamer Mahmood believes the whole England squad can gain inspiration from his achievement.

"It's a big lift for all of us knowing we have the number one batsman in the world in our side, and hopefully the other guys can feed off that and try to get up to his level," said Mahmood.

"He's a fantastic player and I think he deserves to be in the top spot. The way he's performed has been brilliant and his average speaks for itself.

"The only time I've bowled at him is in the nets and I always enjoy bowling at players like that because you want the best player in the nets so you can bowl at them and improve your own game.

"It's difficult bowling at him because he has these really strange shots which he pulls out of nowhere, and you think to yourself how has he hit that, I've never been hit like that before."' Mahmood added: "I'm fortunate I don't play against him in a match situation - he's a lot more relaxed in the nets than he is during a game."