England have been landed a blow as they were docked two ICC World Test Championship points in the 2025-27 standings for their slow over rate in their recently-completed match against India at Lord’s.
England were deemed to two overs short of the regulated over-rates at the end of the Test that they eventually by 22 runs in a thrilling Day 5 finish against India to take a series 2-1 lead after three matches.
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.
After the deduction, England’s tally in the World Test Championship standings dropped from 24 to 22 out of 36 points, consequently reducing their point percentage from 66.67% to 61.11%.
Consequently, England have slipped to the third spot as former champions Australia remained on top after their 3-0 thumping of West Indies in the Caribbean. Ben Stokes’ men were also levied 10 per cent of their match fees for the offence. “England captain Ben Stokes pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction imposed by Richie Richardson of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees. Due to this, there was no need of a formal hearing,” an ICC statement read.
New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa are yet to play any matches in this WTC cycle. Defending World Test Champion South Africa beat Zimbabwe 2-0 in the recently concluded Test match series, but since Zimbabwe is not part of the current WTC cycle, the series was not counted in for the standings.
England, who finished fourth in the inaugural WTC cycle in 2019-21, were docked 12 points for over-rate offences in the following edition. In the previous cycle where they missed a final berth for the third successive time, England lost 22 points to poor over-rates and finished fifth in the standings.
Story continues below this ad
WTC 2025-2027 Points Table Updated
| Pos | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | Pt Deductions | Points | PCT |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 100.00 |
| 2 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 66.67 |
| 3 | England | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -2 | 22 | 61.11 |
| 4 | India | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 33.33 |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 16.67 |
| 6 | West Indies | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 7 | New Zealand | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 9 | South Africa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
