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Williamson And Co's WTC Final Hopes Dashed; ICC Imposes Penalties On New Zealand, England

Soumyajit Dutta

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New Zealand's WTC Final hopes gets crushed after ICC imposes heavy penalties [Source: @amitava0112/X.com]New Zealand's WTC Final hopes gets crushed after ICC imposes heavy penalties [Source: @amitava0112/X.com]

In a recent development, the International Cricket Council has fined both New Zealand and England for slow over rates during their ongoing three-match series. Both teams were found guilty of slow over rates, resulting in a match fee fine and a deduction of WTC points.

According to ICC regulations, both teams will incur a fine amounting to 15% of their match fees, and they will also lose three World Test Championship points. The umpires identified that both teams were three overs behind schedule during their first test match at Christchurch, even after considering breaks.

Penalty Fades New Zealand's WTC Final Hopes?

As per the rules, each team loses one championship point for every over they fall short. The captains, Tom Latham and Ben Stokes, acknowledged the mistake, so no formal hearing took place. The penalties were imposed by David Boon, a member of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, following the umpires Ahsan Raza and Rod Tucker raising the charges.

With the deduction of these crucial WTC points, England and especially New Zealand find themselves in a challenging position in the qualification scenario for the WTC final. Currently, they sit in sixth and fifth place respectively on the points table.

Even though the Kiwis sat at the fourth place before the penalty, they now drop down to the fifth place. England, despite their dominant win at Christchurch is already out from the contention of being a finalist because of their poor points.

Kiwi's Unlikely WTC Final Hopes

New Zealand has played 12 matches and accumulated 69 points, while England, having played 20 matches, has a total of 102 points. Due to the penalties, New Zealand's points percentage drops to 47.92%, and England's to 42.50%. 

With India and South Africa leading the table with scores above 59%, the chances for the penalised teams to qualify for the WTC final at Lord's in June 2025 appear increasingly slim as the max the Kiwis can push is only 55.36%.