ENG vs IND: Ben Stokes-led England's Lord's Test Victory Overshadowed by WTC Points Penalty; Here's Why
Synopsis
England's thrilling 22-run victory over India at Lord's was dampened by a two-point penalty for slow over-rate. This drops them to third in the World Test Championship standings, highlighting the new ICC regulations around over rates.
The Ben Stokes-led England suffered a slight setback, especially in their quest to qualify for the World Test Championship Final, after a thrilling victory in the third Test of the five-match series against India at Lord’s in London on Sunday, July 14.
England took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series with a thrilling 22-run win over Team India in the Lord’s Test. With a target of 193, the hosts managed to pull off the victory on the tense final day of the match, despite strong resistance from Ravindra Jadeja, who displayed his valiance and grit to take the visitors past the finish line, but in vain.
England bowlers were severely tested by Jadeja’s resilience and determination to help Team India achieve a 193-run target across all three sessions of the final day until Shoaib Bashir dismissed Mohammed Siraj — the final wicket — to seal a dramatic 22-run win for England.
England Docked Crucial WTC Points for Slow Over-Rate
Though England clinched a dramatic Lord’s Test and took a series lead, the Ben Stokes-led side was punished by the International Cricket Council on Wednesday, July 16. As per the statement by the ICC, the Three Lions have been penalised two WTC points for two slow over-rate offences.
“This came under Article 16.11.2 of the ICC World Test Championship playing conditions, by which a side is penalised one point for each over short, and after time allowances were taken into consideration,” the ICC statement read.
Moreover, each England player has been handed a 10% match fee for their failure to bowl in an allotted time.
“This was as per Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined five per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time,” the statement added.
Recently, the ICC introduced major changes across all formats of the game, which came into effect on July 2. One of the changes that the world governing body for cricket brought in was the stop clock in Test cricket.
According to the rule, a bowler from the fielding side should be ready within a minute or 60 seconds of the previous over ending. Stop Clock in Tests begins from 0 to 60, and the rule has already been implemented in the ongoing WTC Cycle.
England slip to third spot after losing two points
After the Lord’s Test victory and taking a 2-1 series lead, England moved to second spot on the World Test Championship with 24 points and Percentage Points of 66.67%.
However, following the deduction of two points from their tally due to the slow over-rate offence, the Three Lions slipped to the third spot on the WTC table, with their points reduced to 22 and Percentage Points dropping to 61.11%. Due to a deduction in England’s points, Sri Lanka moved to the second spot with 16 points and PTC of 66.77%.
In the previous World Test Championship Cycle, England were docked a whopping 22 points for slow over-rate offence, and they have started losing points in the first matches of the ongoing WTC Cycle.