Sri Lanka have defeated New Zealand in a thrilling Test at Galle and have jumped to No.3 in the 2023-25 World Test Championship table - here’s the updated WTC table after the first SL vs NZ Test.
Sri Lanka recorded a memorable win against New Zealand, winning by 63 runs on Monday. Opting to bat first, the hosts made 305 in the first innings, only to narrowly concede a 35-run lead. They posted 309 in their second innings, with Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews scoring fifties.
New Zealand were set a target of 274 to take a series lead but were struggling at 96-6. Rachin Ravindra scored a fine 92 to keep one end up even as wickets kept tumbling at the other end. The Black Caps needed to chase down the remaining runs (68) with two wickets in hand on Monday morning, but Prabath Jayasuriya dismissed Ravindra and William O Rourke in the space of 2.1 overs to hand Sro Lanka a 63-run win.
WTC points table: Sri Lanka overtake New Zealand to go to No.3
After the win, Sri Lanka’s points percentage (PCT) has risen to 50 with 48 points from eight Tests. They have won four matches and lost as many matches in the ongoing World Test Championship, and are behind India and Australia in the table currently. They were at fourth spot before the Test match after Bangladesh had suffered a defeat against India in Chennai, and have now leapt up a spot to third.
New Zealand, on the other hand, fell down a place to No.4 and have a PCT of 42.85. They have won three of their seven Tests in the ongoing WTC, with four defeats.
The next match of the series will be played on September 26 in the same venue.
*Any points deductions due to slow over rates will be updated once they are announced.
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