Australia lost the top rank in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) standings as a result of Sri Lanka's decisive victory over Australia in the second Test at Galle. South Africa has since supplanted Australia as the top team.
On Monday, Sri Lanka defeated the guests by an astounding innings and 39 runs, with Australia scoring just 151 in their second innings. With the victory, the team led by Dimuth Karunaratne tied the series at one game each.
Australia had defeated England by 10 wickets in the first Test played there.
With the victory, Sri Lanka was able to surpass three competitors and move up to third in the most recent WTC standings. However, the standings' immediate vicinity at the top have changed, with Australia dropping out from the top spot.
With a win-loss ratio of 71.43 percent, South Africa overtakes Australia as the new leader in the latest standings, while Australia falls to second with 70 percent following their first Test loss in the current era.
With their victory, Sri Lanka moved ahead of Pakistan, India, and the West Indies and up to third place in the standings, putting them squarely in the running for the World Test Championship final the following year.
Despite missing many important players due to Covid-19, Sri Lanka easily won the second Test thanks to dominating performances from top batter Dinesh Chandimal and rookie Prabath Jayasuriya.
This puts Dimuth Karunaratne's team ahead of a number of strong competitors in the battle for the World Test Championship crown and gives them a win-loss percentage of 54.17. With a two-match Test series against Pakistan starting at home later this month, Sri Lanka won't have to wait long to narrow the distance between themselves and the teams ahead of them in the standings.
While the West Indies visit Australia for their next Test match at the end of November, Australia takes a brief break from five-day cricket.