The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Sri Lankans on top

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 26, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Sri Lankans on top

MUMBAI, MAY 25. Sri Lankan cricketers have taken the top spot in four categories of the CEAT cricket ratings for 2004-2005 following their success in the recent series in Zimbabwe.

Skipper Marvan Atapattu's 249 and Kumara Sangakkara's 270 in the Bulawayo Test boosted their batting points to 27 and 19 respectively and helped them take the No. 1 and 2 spots among batsmen. They are followed by England's Marcus Trescothick (11), Sanath Jayasuriya (10) and West Indies' Ramnaresh Sarwan (9).

Off-spinner Muttaiah Muralitharan leads the bowling table with 13 points followed by compatriot and left-arm seamer Nuwan Zoysa (11). Behind these two are West Indies' Ian Bradshaw (5) and Tino Best (3), Bangladesh's Tapash Baisya (3) and Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas (3).

Atapattu, Sangakkara, Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Zoysa and Jayasuriya figure in the ratings for the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year 2004-05. Atapattu, Sangakkara and Muralitharan are placed first, second and third. England's Trescothick and Jayawardene, Zoysa and Jayasuriya have four points each in this category.

The top fielders as of now are Jayawardene (3), Atapattu (1), Muralitharan (1), West Indies' Devon Smith (1) and Zimbabwe's Prosper Utesya (1). In the team-of-the-year category, Sri Lanka leads with 20 points followed by West Indies (12) and England (2). Sri Lanka's 20 points have come from Tests and West Indies' 12 from one-day Internationals.

In its ninth year, the CEAT cricket rating awards points for performances to individuals and teams for Tests and one-day Internationals played from May 1 to April 30.

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