Sangakkara No. 1 Test batsman in ICC rankings

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman, has upstaged Ricky Ponting from the No. 1 spot in the ICC player rankings for Test batsmen, thus making it a double for Sri Lanka in the Test ranking charts, with compatriot Muttiah Muralitharan leading the list for Test bowlers.

Sangakkara moved up two spots from No. 3 following his knocks of 92 and 152 in the first Test against England in Kandy, which Sri Lanka won by 88 runs.

Ponting is behind Sangakkara in second place, while Jacques Kallis - the only player to have scored more Test runs this year than Sangakkara - is in third position.

Sangakkara has been enjoying a purple patch with the bat, having given up the wicketkeeping gloves in Tests of late. The Kandy Test was the fourth consecutive match in which he had scored over 150 in an innings, a record. He was named Man of the Match for his efforts in Kandy, the same Test in which Muralitharan passed Shane Warne as the leading Test wicket-taker.

It was also the farewell Test for Sanath Jayasuriya and the 100th for Chaminda Vaas, the fast bowler.