ENGLAND LOSE 12 WTC POINTS FOR SLOW OVER RATE AT OVAL

This is the second time England have lost points for a slow over rate in this World Test Championship cycle

Joe Root accepted the charge of maintaining a slow over rate at The Oval  •  Philip Brown/Getty Images

England have been docked 12 points in the World Test Championship and fined 50% of their match fee for a slow over-rate offence against New Zealand in the second Test at The Oval. Since a win is worth 12 WTC points, the penalty has cost England the points they earned for beating New Zealand in the first Test at Lord's.

England were found to be 12 overs short of the target at The Oval after factoring in time allowances. According to the World Test Championship playing conditions, a team is penalised one point for each over short. The ICC's Code of Conduct says players will be fined 5% of their match fee for each over short but the maximum is capped at 50%, which is the penalty England have been hit with.

The charges were brought by on-field umpires Adrian Holdstock and Nitin Menon, third umpire Rod Tucker and fourth umpire Graham Lloyd. England captain Joe Root, who was standing in for Ben Stokes in the aftermath of the Rex Rooms incident, pled guilty and so no hearing was needed with match referee Andy Pycroft.

England lost the second Test by 253 runs, with the series level at 1-1 ahead of the decider at Trent Bridge from June 25. England are currently seventh out of nine teams in the WTC standings with 38 points from 12 Tests, which translates to 26.39 percentage points.

This is the second time England have been docked points for a slow over rate in the current WTC cycle. They lost two points for the same offence during their 22-run victory against India at Lord's in 2025. In the previous WTC cycle from 2023 to 2025, England had lost 22 points due to slow over-rate offences and finished fifth.

- ESPNcricinfo

HOW INDIA CAN REACH WTC FINAL: WIN AT SCG AND HOPE FOR SRI LANKA SERIES VICTORY OR DRAW AGAINST AUSTRALIA

To qualify for the final, India must win the last Test of the series against Australia at Sydney, and then hope for a positive result for Sri Lanka (or a 0-0 draw) when Australia tour the island nation early next year.

India fans show their support during the fourth Test against Australia in Melbourne. India may have lost the crucial Boxing Day contest by 184 runs but all is not lost as far as their chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final are concerned. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

India may have lost the crucial Boxing Day contest by 184 runs but all is not lost as far as their chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final are concerned.

To qualify for the final, India must win the last Test of the series against Australia at Sydney, and then hope for a positive result for Sri Lanka (or a 0-0 draw) when Australia tour the island nation early next year.

Post the loss, India's point percentage (PCT) has dropped to 52.78 from 55.89. Australia, on the other hand boosted their PCT as they now have 61.46.

South Africa have already qualified for the WTC final after beating Pakistan in the first Test by two wickets on Sunday.

If India manage to win in Sydney, they will have 55.26 PCT and Australia will have 54.26. A win out of two Tests against Sri Lanka then would be enough for Australia to go past India's PCT and join the Proteas in the final.

India began the 2024/25 season in a rampant fashion, securing a confident 2-0 win over Bangladesh at home.

The script that followed was, however, not according to their plans. The side suffered an unprecedented historic loss to New Zealand at home, before embarking on a challenging tour of Australia.

Under stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah, the Men in Blue rekindled their hopes for a third straight appearance in the WTC Final, with a win in the opening Test in Perth.

However, the side has since gone on to lose two games in Australia, and their WTC chances have taken a significant hit.

But Australia's compelling win in the final session here has improved their chances of a World Test Championship 2025 final appearance, with the side now just one more Test win away from making it to Lord's next year.

Earlier in Centurion's Boxing Day Test, Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen's stunning partnership took South Africa to a thrilling two-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test, confirming their spot at next June's final.

While Australia are out in front as claimants to the second spot, India are still in with a chance. Sri Lanka too are alive, but both will need a string of favourable results to keep their hopes alive.

- THE HINDU

PROTEAS COACH UNAPOLOGETIC ABOUT 'EASY' ROUTE TO TEST FINAL

Marco Jansen celebrates hitting the four that gave South Africa

Proteas coach Shukri Conrad brushed off criticism about the format of the World Test Championship after his team qualified for the final.

South African coach Shukri Conrad predictably brushed off criticism about the uneven scheduling of the World Test Championship after his team qualified for the final.

South Africa beat Pakistan in a dramatic two-wicket win in Centurion on Sunday to earn their sixth successive Test win.

On the average points system used for the championship, the South Africans are guaranteed a place in the final next June, even if they lose their last match, the second Test against Pakistan starting in Cape Town on Friday.

‘EASY DRAW’

“People abroad will be shouting that we had an easy draw. Well, I’m not going to apologise for that. We’re just thrilled that we can be at Lord’s next year,” Conrad said after the victory against Pakistan.

Australia’s win against India in Melbourne on Monday put them in pole position to join South Africa at Lord’s, although they still have to play a fifth Test against India and two matches away against Sri Lanka.

South Africa’s path to the final illustrated the imbalance in the quantity and quality of the fixtures for the nine teams contesting the World Test Championship (WTC), a fact highlighted by former England captain Michael Vaughan, who called for a revamp of the format.

“At the moment every team plays a wildly different number of games and that just does not create a balanced outcome or totally fair league table,” Vaughan wrote in a column for British daily The Telegraph.

South Africa’s programme consisted of just 12 matches, the joint lowest number together with Bangladesh.

England played 22 Tests and Australia and India, the other members of cricket’s ‘big three’, had 19 fixtures each.

South Africa had six series, all of only two matches. They shared a series against India 1-1 but did not play against Australia or England.

Australia, India and England, by contrast, played each other in a five-match ‘marquee’ series.

With no team dominating, they all shed points, affecting their average points standings.

After sharing the honours against India, South Africa effectively forfeited a series in New Zealand because their governing body prioritised a Twenty20 tournament.

Conrad could not select any players contracted by the T20 franchises, which ruled out most of his first-choice players.

Since then, though, South Africa have won away series in the West Indies and Bangladesh and beaten Sri Lanka at home before scraping home against Pakistan.

Conrad admitted that his team were far from their best at Centurion, needing an unbeaten ninth wicket stand of 51 between Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada to secure the win.

“The WTC weighs on you, you really want to get to the final, but we need to be a lot more resilient and clinical. We saw what pressure did to some of our players but they will grow enormously from the experience.

“We are so much better than we showed in this match but we want this team to never know when they are beaten and we want the opposition to know that too,” said Conrad.

- Garrin Lambley

INDIA REACHES 260/6 ON DAY 3 | TRAIL AUSTRALIA BY 209 RUNS IN WORLD TEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

Ajinkya Rahane struck an unbeaten 89 on comeback as India reached 260 for 6 at lunch on the third day of their World Test Championship final against Australia here on Friday.

Resuming the day at 151 for five with 318 runs behind Australia's first innings total of 469, India lost wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat (5) early when Scott Boland cleaned him up. But the pair of Rahane and Shardul Thakur (36 not out) led India's resistance in the remainder of the first session."

Rahane and Thakur added 108 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket though India still trail Australia by 209 runs in the first innings.

Rahane, who was dropped on 72 by David Warner off Pat Cummins, has faced 122 balls for his unbeaten 89 with 11 fours and one six.

Thakur copped a few blows on his hands and managed to reach 36 not out from 83 balls with four fours, as he was also dropped by Cameron Green off Cummins while he was batting on eight."

Brief scores:

Australia 1st Innings: 469 India 1st Innings: 260 for 6 in 60 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 89 batting, Shardul Thakur 36 batting).