ICC World Test Championship Updated Point Table: The Indian cricket team is currently in Australia and a five-Test series is being played between the two countries, in which the Indian team is leading 1-0. With this victory, the Indian team came to first place in the ICC World Test Championship. Apart from India and Australia, Test series are currently being played between South Africa and Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh and England and New Zealand. In such a situation, there has been a lot of turmoil in the points table of the World Test Championship. On Tuesday, New Zealand’s hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship final suffered a setback as they were given three penalty points due to slow over rate. Due to these penalties, New Zealand’s ranking has declined.
ICC on Tuesday declared that in the first match of the three-match series between New Zealand and England in Christchurch, the host team had to face a crushing defeat by 8 wickets. After this defeat, New Zealand has suffered a second setback and due to slow over rate in this match, New Zealand was given three penalty points. This penalty of New Zealand is a matter of advantage for India, which is at the top position with 61.11 percent points. This is also good news for India because now there are only four teams including India and Australia in the race and the chances of India reaching the last two places are quite high.
New Zealand now have a points percentage of 47.92 per cent and can only move up to 55.36 per cent with a win in their remaining two matches against England. In such a situation, he is on the verge of being out of the race for the finals. South Africa (59.26), Australia (57.26) and Sri Lanka (50) are at second, third and fourth positions respectively.
The ICC said in a statement, “There has been a new twist in the race to be included in the ICC World Test Championship final to be held at Lord’s next year. New Zealand and England have been asked to maintain a slow over rate during the opening Test of their series in Christchurch. “A fine has been imposed.” The ICC release further said, “Both teams were fined 15 per cent of their match fees and docked three important World Test Championship points, adding even more excitement to the final stages of the ongoing cycle.”
England is already out of the race to reach next year’s final. In such a situation, New Zealand’s hopes have been dealt a blow due to the eight-wicket defeat at Hagley Oval. New Zealand has slipped to fifth place in the points table. For the final to be held next year in June 2025, New Zealand will not only have to win both the matches against England but will also have to hope for many more results in its favor. New Zealand’s Tom Latham and England’s Ben Stokes were convicted of the crime and both have pleaded guilty. Therefore there was no need for a formal hearing.
