England’s triumph in the third Test against India at Lord’s came with an unexpected penalty. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has docked two World Test Championship (WTC) points and fined the team for a slow over-rate.
According to an ICC statement released on Wednesday, match referee Richie Richardson confirmed that England fell two overs short of their target after accounting for time allowances.
Slow Over-Rate Results in Fine and Points Deduction
Due to the breach, England’s WTC tally dropped from 24 points to 22 out of a possible 36, reducing their points percentage from 66.67% to 61.11%. This penalty also meant England slipped from second to third in the WTC standings.
“𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝑪𝑪 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒅.
As per Article 16.11.2 of the WTC playing conditions, teams lose one championship point for each over short. In England’s case, this resulted in the deduction of two crucial points.
Stokes Accepts Sanction Without Hearing
England captain Ben Stokes accepted responsibility for the slow over-rate and agreed to the penalty, avoiding the need for a formal hearing.
The charge was laid by on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, third umpire Ahsan Raza, and fourth umpire Graham Lloyd.
“𝑩𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅.
With this penalty, England now sit third in the WTC table, with two wins in three matches. Australia remain at the top, having won all three of their matches so far, while Sri Lanka hold second place with two wins. India occupy the fourth spot, having managed only one victory in their three games in this WTC cycle.
Over-Rates Critical for WTC Final Qualification
It’s important to note that over-rates play a significant role in the WTC rankings. Even minor infractions can have a major impact on a team’s chances of reaching the championship final.
“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎’𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝑪𝑪 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅.
As the race heats up, England will need to ensure better time management in future matches to avoid further setbacks.
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