The World Test Championship final race is in full swing, with all contenders engaged in crucial Test series battles to secure their spot in the ultimate showdown. The final is scheduled to be played in June 2025 at Lords in England. Amidst the final battle, New Zealand and England are sanctioned for maintaining a slow over-rate.
During the opening Test match of the series between England and New Zealand in Christchurch, both of the teams have been penalized with points deduction on the World Test Championship table. This deduction has made the battle more interesting, with the race to feature at next year’s final thrown wide open. England and New Zealand have been fined 15 percent of their match fees and penalized three crucial World Test Championship points each. This incident has added more excitement to the intense final stages of the ongoing cycle.
Although England are already eliminated from the race for next year’s final, despite their impressive eight-wicket victory at Hagley Oval, the loss of competition points is a significant setback for New Zealand. As a result, they have fallen from joint fourth to outright fifth in the standings.
New Zealand and England were both found to be three overs short of the target, after factoring in the time allowances for delays or stoppages. As per the rules, teams are penalized one point for each over they fall short of completing within the allotted time. Consequently, both teams lost three points each for not meeting the required over count.
Previously, New Zealand had a points percentage of 50%, but following the penalty, it has dropped to approximately 47.92%. The Kiwi can only achieve as high as 55.36% of points percentage if they beat England in the upcoming two Test matches. The charges were brought by on-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Rod Tucker, third umpire Adrian Holdstock, and fourth official Kim Cotton, with the sanctions being imposed by David Boon from the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees.
Both the captains, Tom Latham and Ben Stokes, swiftly acknowledged their mistakes, pleaded guilty to the offence, and accepted the proposed sanctions, resulting in the matter being resolved without the need for a formal hearing.
