The race to the final of the 2023-25 World Test Championship has heated up after England and New Zealand docked points for a slow over rate during the Christchurch Test.
Both teams were found guilty of falling three overs short of the target "after time allowances were taken into consideration". They were fined 15 per cent of their match fees each, along with three points from their tally in the current WTC cycle. England captain Ben Stokes and his counterpart Tom Latham pleaded guilty to the charges.
While England are already out of contention for the summit clash, it’s New Zealand that will be more affected by the over-rate penalty. The hosts' points percentage moved down from 50 to 47.92 after the sanction. As a result, they have slipped to fifth, to make way for Sri Lanka, with whom their PCT was tied after the result of the first Test.
New Zealand's chances were already hanging by a thread after losing the series opener by eight wickets following Brydon Carse’s rare 10-wicket haul. The penalty jeopardised their complicated roadmap even more, with them now able to attain a maximum PCT of 55.36 by winning the remaining two Tests against England.
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England, meanwhile, held onto their sixth position. Their PCT dropped from 43.75 to 42.50 from 20 Tests. The most they can achieve is 47.72, not enough to earn them a spot in the final.
Updated WTC points table after New Zealand and England docked points
| Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points deducted | Points | PCT |
| India | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 110 | 61.11 |
| South Africa | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 64 | 59.25 |
| Australia | 13 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 90 | 57.69 |
| Sri Lanka | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 50 |
| New Zealand | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 69 | 47.92 |
| England | 20 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 22 | 102 | 42.5 |
| Pakistan | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 40 | 33.33 |
| West Indies | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 26.67 |
| Bangladesh | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 25 |
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