Pakistan jump to No. 3 in ICC rankings after epic win

Published July 7, 2015
The series win has helped Pakistan climb up to third position on the ICC Test championship table. -AFP/File
The series win has helped Pakistan climb up to third position on the ICC Test championship table. -AFP/File

Pakistan created history by chasing down their highest total in Test cricket to win the third Test and the series against Sri Lanka on Tuesday with seven wickets to spare.

Chasing the stiff target of 377, former captain Younis Khan starred for the tourists with an unbeaten 171 as Pakistan reached the target after lunch to win their first series in Sri Lanka after nine years.

From the vault: In pursuit of the star (by Shan Masood)

The victory saw Pakistan soar to the third position on the ICC Test Championship table as the tourists achieved the sixth highest successful chase in history.

Misbah-ul-Haq's side jumped three places after entering the series in sixth position on 97 points, one ahead of Sri Lanka. The 2-1 series win earned it four ratings points and because the middle of the table is so tightly-packed, a leap of three places.

Pakistan now trails second-ranked Australia by 10 points and leads fourth-ranked New Zealand by two points.

Sri Lanka, in contrast, dropped four points and has slipped to 92 points, while retaining its seventh position overall.

ICC Test Championship table (as on 7 July 2015)

Rank Team Points

1 South Africa 130

2 Australia 111

3 Pakistan 101

4 New Zealand 99

5 India 97

6 England 97

7 Sri Lanka 92

8 West Indies 81

9 Bangladesh 41

10 Zimbabwe 5

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