England skipper Ben Stokes is not a happy man, after all his side and New Zealand, both were docked three points for maintaining slow over rates throughout the Christchurch match. That propelled him to write, “Good on you ICC”, in his Instagram story. That was not it, all the players were fined 15% of their match fees for the same — for the first NZ vs ENG Test at the Hagley Oval.
Ben Stokes Frustrated With ICC
The post read, “Good on you ICC. Finished the game with 10 hours of play still left.” Meanwhile, this is not the only time that England have been on the receiving end. In fact, they have been at a loss of 22 WTC points in the 2023-25 cycle. 19 of those points came during the 2023 Ashes series.
Now, this means that England are currently sixth in the WTC points table, and are not in contention for a spot in the WTC final. On the other hand, New Zealand dropped one rung, from fourth to fifth. A win in the next two matches can only take them to 55.36%, that won’t be enough to take them to the finals.
WTC Points Table
As far as the current situation in the WTC points table is concerned, India top the charts with 61.11%, followed by South Africa at 59.26%, and Australia at 57.69%. In this current cycle, only 15 matches are left, and no team has booked their berth for the WTC final, as yet.
In the match, hosts Kiwis scored 348 after batting first, with comeback man Kane Williamson scoring 93. Brydon Carse was the pick of the bowlers for England, with four wickets in the first innings. In reply, England reached 499 with Harry Brook scoring 177. In the second innings, NZ managed only 254, and once again Carse stepped up with six wickets. Set to chase a small target, ENG won by eight wickets eventually.
