Dubai, Mar 29, 2013: Sri Lanka will stake its number-one ranking on the Reliance ICC T20I Championship Table when it plays Bangladesh on Sunday in a one-off Twenty20 International at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
Sri Lanka leads ninth-ranked Bangladesh by 47 ratings points and this gap means Sri Lanka is favourite to win the one-off match. As such, because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, failure to win the match will mean Sri Lanka will drop five ratings points and slip one ratings point behind the second-ranked West Indies.
However, if Sri Lanka wins the match, then it will gain one ratings point and will extend its advantage over the West Indies to six ratings points.
Sri Lanka’s victory will, however, cost Bangladesh a drop of two ratings points that will put it at par with Ireland on 82 ratings points, but ahead of the Associate side when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal points.
Chandimal starts new era as captain
Meanwhile, the one-off match on Sunday will also herald the start of a new era for Sri Lanka in the format. Sri Lanka will be led by wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal for the first time in the format with fast bowler Lasith Malinga being his deputy.
Chandimal will miss the services of experienced former captains Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan who are sitting in second, 12th and 13th positions, respectively on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for T20I batsmen. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum continues to head the batting table.
Among the bowlers, third-ranked Ajantha Mendis and fifth-ranked Nuwan Kulasekara will not be in action for Sri Lanka. But Malinga in 12th and former captain Angelo Mathews in 13th place will lead Sri Lanka’s bowling charge.
The highest ranked bowler in action on Sunday would be Bangladesh’s ninth-ranked Abdur Razzak. The bowlers’ table is headed by West Indies spinner Sunil Narine with Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal in second place.
Upcoming fixtures
Sri Lanka v Bangladesh
31 Mar-One-off T20I, Pallekele (D/N)
Reliance ICC T20I Championship (as on 29 March)
Rank Team Rating
1 Sri Lanka 131
2 West Indies 126
3 India 119
4 Pakistan 119
5 England 118
6 South Africa 114
7 Australia 102
8 New Zealand 98
9 Bangladesh 84
10 Ireland 82
11 Zimbabwe 41
Not ranked as fewer than eight T20I matches played since August 2010
Afghanistan 88
Netherlands 73
Scotland 52
Kenya 14
Canada 7
(Developed by David Kendix). —- ICC
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