New Delhi. England has once again secured the top position in the ICC T20 International Team Rankings by defeating Sri Lanka 3-0 in the three-match T20 series. In the third T20 played in Manchester, England defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets and with this India had to move to second place. Although both the teams have 269-269 rating points in their account, but England is ahead in decimal calculation.
This is the second time this year that England has snatched the number-1 position of T20 rankings from India. Earlier in July, England had reached the top after a 4-0 series win against India. After this, India regained the number-1 position by winning the series against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. Now after the clean sweep against Sri Lanka, England has again reached the top.
Even at 269 rating, India is at second place
In the latest rankings, England have 11,021 points from 41 matches and their rating is 269. India has 17,201 points from 64 matches and its rating is also 269. If we look at the ratings in full decimal, England is ahead by a slight margin, hence it has got the first position and India has got the second position. Australia is at third place with 260 ratings.
India has a chance to return to the top again
India's next T20 International match is against Japan on 22 September. This will be the first men's T20 International match between the two teams. The match will be played at Sano International Cricket Ground, Japan. After this, the Indian team will also participate in the Asian Games, where it has to start the campaign directly from the quarter-finals.
England won by 8 wickets in the third T20
After losing the toss and opting to bat first at Old Trafford, Manchester, the Sri Lankan team was all out for 124 runs in 18.5 overs. Pathum Nissanka scored 36 runs and Kamindu Mendis scored 35 runs. Captain Charith Asalanka reached 15 runs, while the rest of the batsmen could not play big innings. For England, Sonny Baker, Joffra Archer and Will Jacques took 2-2 wickets.
Chasing the target of 125 runs, England maintained the pace from the beginning. Jos Buttler played an unbeaten inning of 62 runs in 32 balls, which included 7 fours and 2 sixes. Captain Harry Brook supported him by scoring 33 runs on 21 balls. England achieved the target by losing 2 wickets in 9.4 overs and won the match with 62 balls remaining.
ICC T20 team ranking
| position | Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | England |
| 2 | India |
| 3 | Australia |
| 4 | New Zealand |
| 5 | South Africa |
| 6 | Pakistan |
| 7 | west indies |
| 8 | bangladesh |
| 9 | Sri Lanka |
| 10 | afghanistan |
England's 15th consecutive T20 win against Sri Lanka
With this victory, England registered its 15th consecutive T20 International win against Sri Lanka. In the three-match series, they won the first match by 119 runs and the second match by 6 wickets. In the third match also, England achieved the target in a one-sided fashion and captured the series 3-0.
With this victory of England, the contest for the top spot in the T20 rankings has once again become very close between India and England. Both have the same rating points, but England is ahead in the latest calculations. India will now start its ranking campaign with the T20 match against Japan.