Sri Lanka move up to 6th spot

Published June 7, 2006

DUBAI, June 6: Sri Lanka's feat of drawing the three-match Test series with England 1-1 has seen it move up one place to sixth in the ICC Test Championship table. Mahela Jayawardene's side gained two rating points as a result of the shared series, secured by a 134-run win at Trent Bridge on Monday that cancelled out England's six-wicket win at Edgbaston.

The series stalemate, which also included a drawn first match at Lord's, has lifted Sri Lanka to 97 points and level with New Zealand, but they moved above the Black Caps and into sixth place when the figures were re-calculated to three decimal places.

Sri Lanka are now just four rating points behind fifth-placed South Africa.

For England the news is not so pleasing. It was the third series in a row since last summer's Ashes success against Australia, they failed to win and that failure has cost the side one rating point, seeing it slip to 112.

That means the gap between England and Australia, who top the ICC Test Championship table, has been extended to 19 points and it also means the margin between England and third-placed India is now just one rating point.

And while England now have a run of ODIs ahead of a Test series against Pakistan that starts in July, India can maintain the pressure on the side immediately above it if Rahul Dravid's line-up can string together a succession of victories in the ongoing four-Test clash with the West Indies.—Agencies

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