Opportunity for Pak-SL to move up in T20I ranking

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The two teams will be keen to get some good match practice ahead of ICC World T20 Championship being held in Sri Lanka from September 18 to October 7 in Colombo, Pallekele and Hambantota later this year.

Sri Lanka will need to win the series 2-0 if they are to move up from third place in the ICC T20 Championship table, said an ICC statement issued on Wednesday.

Mahela Jayawardena's side has the opportunity to rise to second in the table, and usurp South Africa which currently occupies second place, if the 2-0 scenario occurs. Sri Lanka's ratings points would rise to 124 while Pakistan's would drop to 107 and put the latter in seventh place just above India when the points are calculated to within the decimal point.

If 2009 ICC World Twenty20 champions Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in the series, then newly-appointed Twenty20 captain M Hafeez would see his side move up to fourth, one ratings point behind New Zealand.

Should Sri Lanka lose the series 2-0, it would see the ICC World Twenty20 2009 runners up drop to sixth in the table. Should both the matches be tied, neither side will move up or down the table while if one match is tied and Sri Lanka win the other match, Pakistan will drop to sixth in the table after losing two ratings points.

If the scenario is reversed and Pakistan win one match while the other is tied, the visitors will remain fifth, while hosts Sri Lanka will drop to fourth in the table. Meanwhile, in the ICC Player Rankings for T20 batsmen there is plenty of opportunity for movement from the players on both sides.

Jayawardena is the highest ranked batsman involved in the series, currently fifth, while compatriots Tillakaratne Dilshan (sixth) and Kumar Sangakkara (eighth) are not far behind the diminutive batsman.

Further down the table, Pakistan's Umar Akmal (15th) and all-rounders Shahid Afridi (24th) and Hafeez (27th) have a chance to climb up the rankings table which is currently topped by England's Kevin Pietersen.

The ICC Player Rankings for T20 bowlers is currently topped by England's Graeme Swann. Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis is currently second, but with the spinner not involved in the series it gives Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal, currently third on the list, the perfect opportunity to overtake the Sri Lanka bowler.

Pakistan's bowlers dominate the top ten of the table, with Saeed (3rd), Afridi (5th) and Hafeez (7th) all vying for an elevated position.

Shane Watson of Australia tops the T20 all-rounders table with 438 ratings points but Pakistan's Afridi is not far behind him with 413 points while Pakistan captain Hafeez is at fourth spot and could leapfrog Australia's David Hussey who currently occupies third position. Sri Lanka's Dilshan is the highest ranked all-rounder for the hosts at fifth while Angelo Mathews occupies ninth place and the duo needs strong performances in this series to push for a place in the top four.

End.