Sri Lanka must beat Zimbabwe to retain 6th position

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Rangana Herath

Zimbabwe hosts Sri Lanka in a two-Test series starting 29 October in Harare in what could be a chance for the home side to garner some points since the 10th-ranked side trails the sixth-ranked opposition by 87 points and this is weighted to reflect this difference.

Sri Lanka will only gain one point to reach 96 points if it wins the series 2-0 and will remain on 95 points with a 1-0 win. Zimbabwe will lose three points if it loses both matches but will gain two points even if it loses 1-0.

A drawn series will see Sri Lanka drop to 92 points while taking Zimbabwe up to 20 points. Zimbabwe could go up to 30 points if it pulls off a 1-0 win in the series while a 2-0 win will see it reach 35 points.

A loss by any margin for Sri Lanka, which will be without its regular captain and top-ranked batsman Angelo Mathews (joint-15th), will see it slip behind New Zealand to seventh position.

ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 25 October, after the first Bangladesh-England Test and the second Pakistan-West Indies Test)

Rank Team              Points

  1. India                 115
  2. Pakistan             111
  3. Australia            108
  4. England             108
  5. South Africa        96
  6. Sri Lanka             95
  7. New Zealand        91
  8. West Indies          67
  9. Bangladesh          57
  10. Zimbabwe             8