Big gains for Chahal and Kuldeep in bowler rankings
Experienced Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara has been rendered a doubtful starter for the five-match ODI series against India due to a back injury.
Fast bowler Suranga Lakmal took four for 27 to set up Sri Lanka's 10-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first Test in Harare on Thursday.
Tom Latham produced another masterful innings of patience and concentration as New Zealand turned the screw on Sri Lanka on the third day of the second Test at Hagley Oval, in Christchurch, on Friday.
India have not lost a series at home since the defeat to South Africa in October 2015.
The New Zealand captain provided a batting masterclass against Sri Lanka in Wellington on Sunday to keep up his chase of Virat Kohli to become the world's top Test batsman.
Netherlands' Kingma gets four-match suspension for ball-tampering.
Babar Azam scored an impressive hundred while Shoaib Malik smashed a quickfire half century to help Pakistan thump Sri Lanka by 83 runs in the first one-day international in Dubai on Friday.
India bulldozed Sri Lanka by 168 runs in the fourth one-day international on Thursday after skipper Virat Kohli and opener Rohit Sharma smashed blistering hundreds to put the tourists 4-0 up in the five-match series.
Teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in a magnificent free kick on his European debut to set Liverpool on the way to a 2-1 win at Hoffenheim which put them on the brink of UEFA Champions League group stage place.
Dasun Shanaka is their 10th captain in nearly five years, and barring a classy batsman like Dhananjaya de Silva and a steady pacer in Dishmantha Chameera, this team lacks quality to challenge the might of the Indian team led by Shikhar Dhawan.
The visitors have a 2-0 lead in the series and can wrap up the contest with another win here before leaving for the last leg of the tour in Colombo.
"It was tough up front, the Sri Lanka bowlers didn't give us much to work with," Markram told reporters.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc picked up his second five-wicket haul in the match to lead Australia to a comprehensive 366-run victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka and a 2-0 series win.
Pakistan will meet Group A toppers England in the first semi-final on Wednesday at the same venue.
Sri Lankan cricket and the island's once-powerful side arrive at the World Cup struggling for form under a newly appointed captain who has played a single One-day international since 2015.
IMAGES from the 1st T20I played between India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday
Cheteshwar Pujara stood tall amid ruins as Sri Lanka struck twice in the truncated morning session to reduce India to 74 for five before rain forced play to be called off early on day two of the opening Test on Friday.
Sri Lanka suffered a stunning batting collapse as they suffered a crushing 226-run defeat in the first Test against West Indies in Port of Spain.
Sri Lanka will look towards veteran Lasith Malinga to deliver with the ball and get them back on the winning path after their horror showing in the three-Test series.
India, who play three matches against Australia and five against New Zealand, could reach 125 points and within one point of England
South Africa's Faf du Plessis smashed a career-best 185 off 141 balls as the hosts beat Sri Lanka by 40 runs after surviving a fierce onslaught in a high-scoring fourth one-day international to take a 4-0 series lead on Tuesday.
Akila Dananjaya's career-best 6-54 was in vain as India beat Sri Lanka by three wickets in their second one-day international to go 2-0 up in the five-match series in Pallekele on Thursday.
Sri Lankan batting once again promised a lot but delivered too little losing as many as seven wickets for 53 runs after they were cruising along at 185 for 3.
India amassed 600 in their first innings and returned to blow away the top half of the Sri Lankan batting order to tighten their grip on the first Test at the Galle International Stadium on Thursday.
The Australia batsman has overtaken New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and is now only nine points behind India skipper Virat Kohli.
Sri Lanka off-spinner Dilruwan Perera took six wickets in the second innings for a match-haul of 10, as the hosts registered a thumping 278-run win over South Africa inside three days of the opening Test on Saturday.
Fired four years ago following allegations of match-fixing, Ejaz Ahmed junior has been controversially appointed head coach of the Pakistan squad for the Asian Emerging Nations Cup, to be held in Karachi and Colombo in December.
England beat Sri Lanka by 42 runs in the third and final Test in Colombo, on Monday, to complete a 3-0 series sweep.
South Africa have slipped to number six in the world, behind fifth-placed Sri Lanka, and have a host of questions to answer, not least around a brittle top six and the balance of the side.
England captain Joe Root hit a brilliant century to put his team in a strong position in their quest for a series-clinching victory on the third day of the second Test against Sri Lanka on Friday.
Former captain Mahela Jayawardene hit a classy unbeaten century to help Sri Lanka close on 305 for five on the first day of the second Test against South Africa in Colombo on Thursday. In a chanceless six hours at the crease, Jayawardene finished on 140 not out off 225 balls, including one six and 16 fours, to give Sri Lanka a solid start in their bid to level the two-match series.
Roshen Silva struck a combative fifty and expertly guided Sri Lanka's lower order to help the hosts gain a first-innings lead of 46 against England on the second day of the second Test on Thursday.
Soft-spoken Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal on Wednesday said youngsters with 'good attitude' are always able to produce results after his team eked out a hard-earned draw against India in the third cricket Test.
A country which produced champion players of spin bowling such as Roy Dias, Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, it has been sharp downward slide for Dinesh Chandimal's men, who have consistently failed against Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
The visible discomfort of their own batsmen on a seaming track made them over-excited which is the reason for leaking way too many runs on the third day, feels seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Sri Lanka cricket coach Nic Pothas says 'too many cooks' are spoiling his efforts to revive the national team and has called for greater autonomy in the wake of yet another confidence-sapping loss against India on Sunday.
K L Rahul broke into the top-10 at 9th, while Shikhar Dhawan also attained a career-high position of 28th in the latest ICC Test rankings after India's clean-sweep of Sri Lanka in a three-match series.
Opener Dhananjaya de Silva struck an unbeaten 78 to help Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe by eight wickets on Monday in the opening match of the triangular one-day tournament that also features West Indies.
Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya has said that the hastily-arranged five-match ODI series in India, to be held in early next month, will help the fringe players prove their worth before next year's World Cup.
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