1st Test	England	v	Sri Lanka
Pre-rating	1117.1		969.4
Form	+13.8		-14.7
Expected Margin	England by 124 runs
Actual Margin	England by an innings and 88 runs
Post-rating	1129.7		952.6

Even after a first day where England tottered to 5/171 this was never an even contest. Sri Lanka, as expected, are poorly equipped for these conditions, and the help their bowlers - particularly Shanaka - received was far more-so for Anderson (10/45 for the match). Hales ground out 86 in the sort of determined innings he needs to prove he is more than a limited overs players, but it was Bairstow - 140, carrying on from his county form - who proved again the depth in this lineup. It was further underlined by the abject batting that followed as Bairstow added nine catches to his match tally and Sri Lanka folded twice for 210. Only 164 overs were played in the match - only rain preventing the mismatched being underscored by a two-day outcome.

England's victory didn't greatly improve their rating, but it was enough to slip above South Africa, and they could easily move into second place with a few good results. Sri Lanka's form (-37) indicates that they have a way to fall yet.

Rankings at 26th May 2016
1.	Australia	1230.4
2.	India	1160.9
3.	Pakistan	1142.9
4.	England	1129.7
5.	South Africa	1121.5
6.	New Zealand	1024.9
7.	Sri Lanka	952.6
8.	West Indies	848.1
10.	Bangladesh	613.3
12.	Zimbabwe	559.8
9.	Ireland	637.1
11.	Afghanistan	606.0
13.	Scotland	408.0
14.	Namibia	306.5
15.	Kenya	276.4
16.	U.A.E.	221.0
17.	Papua New Guinea	228.1
18.	Netherlands	189.0
19.	Hong Kong	183.6
20.	Canada	147.9

Shaded teams have played fewer than 2 games per season. Non-test team ratings are not comparable to test ratings as they don`t play each other.

Cricket - Ratings - Test 28th May, 2016 14:36:54   [#] 

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