England inch closer to India in latest ICC Test rankings

The year 2018 started on an ugly note for England as they lost the overseas Ashes against Australia. Thereafter, they slumped to defeat against New Zealand in the land of the Black Caps. The Three Lions thereafter played a two-match series against Pakistan. Joe Root and Co lost the opening encounter by nine wickets at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

Nevertheless, they drew level in the series with a resounding triumph at Headingley in Leeds. The Poms, captained by Joe Root, crossed swords with India in a four-match series and the contests turned out to be closely-fought, barring the match at Lord’s where England won by an innings. They emerged victorious by 4-1 and only lost the match at Trent Bridge.

England move up

Recently, Root’s men inflicted Sri Lanka with a 3-0 whitewash. All three matches in Galle, Pallekele and Colombo turned out to be one-sided. The final match concluded today with England winning by 42 runs. The victory has also helped the visiting team to a large extent as they now have moved to the second spot in International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test team rankings.

They currently have 108 rating points and overtook South Africa, who moved down to the third position with 106 points. In the meantime, Lanka lost to the Brits and slid to the seventh position with 93 points. Pakistan moved to the sixth position with 95 rating points. They won the Test series against Australia after drawing the opening Test at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Sarfraz Ahmed and Co are now playing the second match against New Zealand in Dubai. India remain to be at the top of the table with 116 points, eight more than England. Virat Kohli’s men won the two-match Test series against Windies and are now scheduled to play a four-match series against Australia, which is scheduled to start on December 6 at Adelaide Oval.

Here is latest Test team ranking

England has moved to second in the @MRFWorldwide ICC Men's Test Team Rankings following a 3-0 series win over Sri Lanka #SLvEng pic.twitter.com/JwrwVgeCNw

— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) November 26, 2018

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