Cricket

Sri Lankan players take giant leap in ICC Test Rankings

Dixit Bhargav
|PublishedFeb 25, 2019

PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA – FEBRUARY 23: Kusal Mendis of Sri Lanka celebrate scoring 50 runs during day 3 of the 2nd Castle Lager Test match between South Africa and Sri Lanka at St George’s Park on February 23, 2019 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Sri Lankan players take giant leap: A historic Test series win in South Africa has aided the Sri Lankan players in ICC Test rankings.

A historic 2-0 series victory in South Africa has had direct impact on the Test rankings of the Sri Lankan players. The latest update in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Rankings has seen several cricketers from the island nation making big gains in the list.

The batsman-duo of Kusal Mendis and Oshane Fernando, who stitched together an unbeaten 163-run stand for the third wicket to seal the chase in the second Test at Port Elizabeth, has jumped up in the Test rankings.

While Mendis has reached No. 18 in the list, two-Test old Fernando has jumped 35 spots to reach No. 65. Wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella jumped eight spots to reach No. 37.

Sri Lanka bowlers make merry

Among their bowlers, senior right-arm fast bowler Suranga Lakmal has take a three-spot jump to reach No. 30. The highest wicket-takers in the series in Vishwa Fernando (12 wickets at an average of 18.91, an economy rate of 3.63 and a strike rate of 31.2) and Kasun Rajitha (nine wickets at an average of 23.22, an economy rate of 4.20 and a strike rate of 33.1) have both jumped six and eight spots to reach No. 43 and 51 respectively.

ALSO READ: Twitter celebrates Sri Lanka’s historic series victory against South Africa.

South Africa fast bowler Duanne Olivier, who dismissed seven batsmen at an average of 25.42, an economy rate of 3.49 and a strike rate of 43.7, continues to better his rank at the highest level. Having picked up 48 wickets in 10 Test matches, Olivier has reached No. 19 in the bowler’s rankings.

Having lost to Sri Lanka at home, South Africa have slipped to No. 3 in the team’s rankings. As a result, New Zealand have reached the second spot in the list. In a bid to retain their rank, the Kiwis will need to defeat Bangladesh in the upcoming home series.

In the team’s list, India continued to take hold of the No. 1 rank. Among the batsman, India captain Virat Kohli is still the No. 1 batsman around the world.

Read some of the latest Twitter reactions on the Sri Lankan victory below:

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.