England's Anderson vaults to career-best No.1 Test ranking

After guiding England to consecutive wins against Sri Lanka in the ongoing three-match Test rubber, seasoned pacer James Anderson on Tuesday vaulted to his career-best No.1 spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test bowlers rankings.

Anderson ripped through the Lankan batting in both the Tests to not only bag three five-wicket hauls but also to become the first Englishman to take 450 wickets as the hosts registered a nine-wicket victory in the second Test at Chester-le-Street on Monday.

The 33-year-old has leapfrogged team-mate Stuart Broad and India's Ravichandran Ashwin to the coveted numero uno spot.

Broad, who took five wickets in the second Test, has slipped behind Ashwin to the third place after conceding three points. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja at sixth is the only other Indian in the top 10.

Anderson now has 884 points, Ashwin has 871 and Broad 869.

Among the batsmen, Australian Steve Smith (925) continues to lead the table with England's Joe Root (878) and New Zealand's Kane Williamson (868) in second and third spots.

Ajinkya Rahane is the highest ranked Indian batsman at 11th while Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara occupy respectively the 13th, 16th and 17th positions.

Among all-rounders, Ravichandran Ashwin retained the No.1 spot while Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan and Broad are at the second and third positions.

--IANS

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