England beat Sri Lanka in Manchester and Bangladesh defeated Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Here's what the World Test Championship standings look like after the results.
Both Test matches started on August 21, with England-Sri Lanka coming to an end in four days. After bowling Sri Lanka out for 236 in the first innings, England took a 122-run lead thanks to Jamie Smith's maiden Test century (111).
Sri Lanka were on the mat at 95-4 in the third innings, but managed to set the hosts 205 to win courtesy of Kamindu Mendis (113) and Dinesh Chandimal (79). England's chase was anchored by Joe Root, who struck an unbeaten 62 to take them to a five-wicket win.
In Rawalpindi, Pakistan batted first on day one, which was truncated due to rain. They eventually declared on day two at 448-6, with keeper Mohammad Rizwan scoring an unbeaten 171. In reply, Bangladesh dug in and batted long to register 565, led by Mushfiqur Rahim (191).
On day five, Bangladesh took nine wickets in under two sessions, bowling Pakistan out for just 146. Openers Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam then knocked off the required 30 runs in just 6.3 overs.
Bangladesh clinched a historic victory with their first-ever Test win over Pakistan 👏
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 25, 2024
Read here ➡️ https://t.co/qlEPcks9p7 pic.twitter.com/AImDaAUX4C
Updated WTC points table: England up to fourth, Pakistan slide to eighth
This pair of results has caused some significant movement in the points table. England have moved up the table from sixth to fourth, sending Sri Lanka down to fifth place. They did have some faint hopes of making the WTC final, but despite the win such a scenario is extremely improbable.
It is still early in Sri Lanka's WTC cycle, and like England they are mathematically in with a chance of making the final but not realistically.
Bangladesh's win over Pakistan was their first-ever against this opponent, and has thrown up an unexpected points table. Both sides in this Test match received points deduction for slow over-rates (six for Pakistan, three for Bangladesh). This means Bangladesh move to sixth in the table, but are still behind Sri Lanka on points percentage.
Meanwhile, Pakistan have slipped down the table and are second from bottom. They are now without a win in their last nine home Test matches.
England and Sri Lanka will face off in the second Test of three from August 29 at Lord's, while Bangladesh and Pakistan will reconvene in Rawalpindi for the second and final Test match from August 30.
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