ENG vs NZ, 2nd Test Match: Slow over rate costs England 2 WTC points

In a sudden turn of events, a string of unexpected events happened for the English cricket team on the final day of the Trent Bridge Test match. In one of the finest innings played in English and world Test cricket history, Jonny Bairstow executed an innings that pushed the Kiwis completely out of the game. England chased a tough score of 299 in two sessions against the likes of Trent Boult, Henry Nicholls, and Tim Southee. However, this emphatic victory led to another loss for the English side. 

Ben Stokes and his team were penalized important points from their WTC tally after they registered one of the most memorable victory at home after Headingley 2019. The English team had risen to 42 points after this spectacular victory, but to their bad luck, they are placed in the 8th spot in the WTC standings. With 2 points snatched away from them, their percentage point also dropped from 25 to 23.80. As per Article 16.11.2 of the ICC World Test Championship playing conditions, a team is penalized one point for each over short. As per this rule, England has lost WTC points from their table.

Pain piled on the English side even further as they have been fined a 40% of their match fee for losing grip on the over rates. Abiding by Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, the players are fined 20 percent of their match fee for every over their team fails to bowl in the allotted time. The point deduction might have played a spoilsport in the English dressing room, but they still have loads of positives to take from the 2nd Test match which was a great endorsement for Test match cricket.