The finalists of the third World Test Championship have been decided, with South Africa taking on Australia, but would the fixture have looked any different had teams not been penalised for over-rates?
The over-rate penalty has its detractors, with Usman Khawaja publicly rallying around a reduction in the level of punishments during the 2023 Ashes. Reportedly after his intervention, the ICC amended the sanction for slow over-rates, with teams only being docked WTC points after a team had batted more than 80 overs, instead of the earlier mark of 60 overs.
How does the over-rate penalty work? Each team is deducted one point for the overs they were found short in a particular innings. For example, if a team is found to be five overs short, five points from their WTC table will be penalised. A side gets 12 points for every win, four for a draw and six for a tie. Based on the number of games they have played in the cycle, their points percentage will determine their standing in the WTC table.
Currently, South Africa top the table, with a PCT of 69.44, followed by Australia at 63.73. The defending champions have incurred 10 points as penalties, but are still far behind from England, who have been deducted 22 points.
pos
team
Q
South Africa
Q
Australia
3
India
4
New Zealand
5
Sri Lanka
6
England
7
Bangladesh
8
Pakistan
9
West Indies
MP
w
l
nrr
pts
12
8
3
0
100
17
11
4
0
130
19
9
8
0
114
14
7
7
0
81
11
5
6
0
60
22
11
10
0
114
12
4
8
0
45
12
4
8
0
35
11
2
7
0
32
What the WTC table would have been without over-rate penalties
As expected, the team that would have benefitted the most if there were no penalties for over-rate would have been England. If they had 22 more points, they would currently have a PCT of 51.52 and would have occupied the third spot in the WTC table. While it would not have been enough to take them through, the results could well have been different if they knew they were in with a chance.
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Draw | Points | PCT % |
| Q 1 | South Africa | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 100 | 69.44 |
| Q 2 | Australia | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 140 | 68.63 |
| 3 | England | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 136 | 51.52 |
| 4 | India | 19 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 116 | 50.89 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 84 | 50 |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 60 | 45.46 |
| 7 | Bangladesh | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 48 | 33.33 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 48 | 33.33 |
| 9 | West Indies | 11 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 32 | 24.24 |
Australia’s PCT too would have been nearly 70 and they would have guaranteed themselves a WTC spot even before the series against India got underway, reducing the element of entertainment and the storyline that the series provided.
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