England close in on Australia in World Test C'ship final race

Galle: The World Test Championship (WTC) final race is hotting up with fourth-placed England moving within 0.5 percentage points (PCT) of third-placed Australia. India are on top of the table with 71.7 percentage points, followed by New Zealand on 70.0 per cent.

England now have 68.7 percentage points, which is 0.5 lower than Australia's 69.2 percentage points.

"With a 2-0 series sweep over Sri Lanka, England are now only 0.5 percentage points behind Australia in the ICC World Test Championship standings," the International Cricket Council (ICC) tweeted.

The gap between the two teams was wide at the start of this year. However, Australia's 2-1 Test series loss to India saw them slip to third and England's 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka has narrowed the gap.

The top two teams will play the ICC World Test Championship final in London in June.

WTC rankings after England-Sri Lanka series: 1. India (71.7 percentage points); 2. New Zealand (70.0); 3. Australia (69.2); 4. England (68.7); 5. South Africa (40.0); 6. Pakistan (30.7); 7. Sri Lanka (16.7); 8. West Indies (11.1); 9. Bangladesh (00.0).