In the low-scoring series against South Africa, which finished 2-0 in favor of the hosts, opener Karunaratne was the biggest batting highlight.
He scored 158*, 60, 53 and 85 to total 356 runs in the two Tests, taking him up three places to a career-high 754 points in the ICC Test Player Rankings for batsmen update on Tuesday, 24 July.
With Dinesh Chandimal, their regular captain who missed the series owing to suspension, at No.8, Sri Lanka now have two batsmen in the top 10.
Angelo Mathews is also up four places to No.24 among batsmen, thanks to his fighting 71 in the second Test.
Other gainers in the Sri Lankan camp were Danushka Gunathilaka, up 36 spots to No. 73, and Akila Dananjaya, the off-spinner, whose seven wickets vaulted him up 16 places to No.39 among bowlers and up 25 to No.46 among all-rounders.
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South Africa have been disappointing all round, and their inability to come to terms with the conditions is reflected in the changes in rankings.
Kagiso Rabada lost the No.1 position on the bowling table to England’s James Anderson. Dale Steyn, who had made the top spot his for years, is still waiting for the one wicket that will make him South Africa’s leading wicket-taker, and slipped by four to No.24.
Openers Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram have slipped to the edge of the top 10, while Hashim Amla is down three to No.14.
Only two people would be smiling from the visitors’ camp. Keshav Maharaj, the left-arm spinner, finished the series with 16 wickets, including a match haul of 12 in the second Test. He jumped five places into the top 20, settling at No. 18.
Then, Theunis de Bruyn’s remarkable fourth-innings century in the second Test took him up 43 to No.105 among batsmen.