Career-best rankings for Mathews and Moeen

Cricket365
June 26, 2014

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has achieved his career-best ranking to date, while EnglandÃ‚Â¿s Moeen Ali and Sam Robson have made it to the top 100 in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has achieved his career-best ranking to date, while England's Moeen Ali and Sam Robson have made it to the top 100 in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.

The rankings were released after Sri Lanka won the second Test, and the series, off the penultimate ball against England at Headingley. The 100 run victory was Sri Lanka's first ever Test series win on English soil.

Player of the match Mathews climbed two places on the rankings table to occupy 11th position following his sturdy knock of 160 in the second innings, which helped the visitors set England a target of 350, which the host fell short of by 100 runs.

This performance also made him the third Sri Lanka player within the top 20, along with Kumar Sangakkara (2nd) and Mahela Jayawardena (14th).

The good news for England was that Moeen Ali, whose resilient unbeaten 108 in the second innings nearly saved the Test for his team, was propelled 36 places to break into the top 100 for the first time, in 92nd position.

Close on his heels was team-mate Sam Robson, whose 127 in the first innings was rewarded with a jump of 66 places to fetch him the 93rd spot on the rankings table.

The rankings for Test Bowlers also saw huge gains from the Sri Lanka players. Dhammika Prasad's match figures of one for 75 and five for 50 saw him re-enter the rankings table in the 55th position, while Mathews' four for 60 in the match saw him jump up eight places to 81st .

Rangana Herath remained the only Sri Lanka bowler within the top 10, at number eight, while Shaminda Eranga (four for 93 and one for 38) moved up four places to occupy 23rd place.

England will be happy with the performance of Liam Plunkett, who returned to the side after a seven-year absence. His match figures of five for 64 and four for 112 led to his jumping 54 places to enter the top 50 at number 50.

James Anderson also moved up three spots to number 10, only eight ratings points behind Herath.

Meanwhile, there was some movement in the Test Team Rankings following England's series loss to Sri Lanka. England slipped two places to fifth position at 100 ratings points.

This led to both India and Pakistan moving up one place each. India is in fourth place with 102 ratings points, while Pakistan now occupies the third spot with 103 ratings points.