The race to the upcoming ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final has taken a twist after the governing body sanctioned a slow over-rate penalty for both England and New Zealand during their opening Test of the ongoing series at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Both sides have been fined 15 percent of their match fees and been docked three crucial points in the WTC competition, adding more power to the thrilling final stages of the ongoing cycle. The Ben Stokes-led side is, however, already out of the ICC WTC 2023-25 final contention, but the punishment has been a major blow for the Tom Latham-led side, who has dropped to the fifth stand in the ranks.
The Blackcaps now carry a point percentage of 47.92 and can only move as high as 55.36 with the victories from their remaining two fixtures against England. It means they now find themselves at a stiff job of qualifying for next year’s one-off red-ball game in June 2025 at Lord’s.
The Test captain of the England side, Ben Stokes, has been stunned by the news and has responded to the sanctions by writing on the Instagram Story. “Good on you ICC!! Finished the game with ten hours of play still left.”
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The Three Lions have been docked 22 WTC crucial points in the 2023-2 cycle for the respective reasons, having previously lost 19 of the 28 points that they gained during the 2023 Ashes series.
New Zealand and England receive penalties from the ICC for slow overrate
On winning the toss on a chilly morning, England decided to bowl on the surface before bundling out the home side for 348 runs, thanks to the twin four-wicket haul from Shoaib Bashir and Brydon Carse. Kane Williamson, on return, missed out on his century by seven runs, while Glenn Phillips remained unbeaten on 58 runs.
The touring party made full use of their batting department in the first innings with a huge lead of 151 runs, thanks to an impressive 171-run knock from Harry Brook and a couple of half-centuries from Ollie Pope and the captain. Carse came into the second innings with the more powerful ability with the help of six wickets before the unbeaten half-century from Jacob Bethell chased on the 104-run score with eight wickets in hand.
Stokes, on the eve of the contest, described the ICC WTC contest as ‘utterly confusing’ and claimed that he never gave the competition serious consideration. In the last two cycles, they finished fourth and are currently sixth in the ongoing one.
On-field ICC umpires Ahsan Raza and Rod Tucker, along with the third umpire Adrain Holdstock and fourth umpire Kim Cotton levelling the charges as both the captains accepted the penalty to the match referee David Boon.
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The top two positions of the ICC WTC table are currently being caught by the Indian side and the South Africa team. The former tore apart Australia in the opening week of the Border Gavaskar Trophy with a 295-run victory at the Optus Stadium in Perth, which has pushed the Pat Cummins-led side to slip at the third rank.
The same scenario has taken place with Sri Lanka, who is at four, after their 233-run defeat in the first of the two Tests against the Proteas at the Kingsmead in Durban. With 15 Tests to go in the current ICC WTC cycle, no team is assured of the two positions. India had the chance of confirming their spot, but a 0-3 whitewash at home against NZ dropped their chances significantly.