Joe Root (England) Photo by Saikat Das / Sportzpics for BCCI
England defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets in the first Test of the three-match series to go 1-0 up and jump three positions from seventh to fourth in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table, while the Lankan Lions dropped down one spot to fifth. England’s win has jumbled the points table and intensified the race for the top two spots between the top six teams.
India is currently leading the points table with 68.51 percentage points, while the 2023 WTC champions Australia, are in the second spot with 62.50 percentage points. The series between the two sides, starting later this year, can become a deciding factor for the final spots. The inaugural champion, New Zealand, has retained their third spot with 50 percentage points, followed by England and Sri Lanka.
Pakistan, who started their WTC campaign on a high note, are currently seventh with just 36.25 percentage points, while their counterparts in the ongoing Test series, Bangladesh, are eighth with just 25 percentage points. A once-dominant force in cricket, West Indies, is the lowest-ranked team with 18.52 percentage points.
Updated WTC 2023-25 points table
|
Position |
Team |
Matches |
Won |
Lost |
Drawn |
Percentage Points |
Points |
|
1 |
India |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
68.51% |
74 |
|
2 |
Australia |
12 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
62.50% |
90 |
|
3 |
New Zealand |
6 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
50.00% |
36 |
|
4 |
England |
14 |
7 |
6 |
1 |
41.07% |
69 |
|
5 |
Sri Lanka |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
40.00% |
24 |
|
6 |
South Africa |
6 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
38.89% |
28 |
|
7 |
Pakistan |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
36.66% |
22 |
|
8 |
Bangladesh |
4 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
25.00% |
12 |
|
9 |
West Indies |
9 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
18.52% |
20 |
Match summary
Earlier, in the first Test at Old Trafford, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. The visitors were in trouble early on, with the score reduced to 113/7. However, the partnership between captain Dhananjaya de Silva (74 off 84 balls) and debutant Milan Rathnayake (72 off 135 balls) helped them reach a respectable total of 236 in the first innings.
In response, England’s middle order took the spotlight. Joe Root (42 off 57 balls) and Harry Brook (56 off 73 balls) laid a solid foundation, while Jamie Smith’s maiden Test century (111 off 148 balls) propelled England to 358, giving them a lead of 122 runs in the first innings.
Sri Lanka’s second innings saw another collapse, but Angelo Mathews (65 off 145 balls), Dinesh Chandimal (79 off 119 balls), and Kamindu Mendis (113 off 183 balls) took the Lankan Lions’ total to 326, setting England a target of 205 runs.
Chasing 205, England found themselves in a troubling situation at 70/3. However, Joe Root’s calm and composed half-century (62 not out off 128 balls) and contributions from Brook (32 off 68 balls) and Jamie Smith (39 not out off 48 balls) helped England secure a five-wicket win in the match and take a 1-0 lead in the series.
First Published: Aug 25 2024 | 1:29 PM IST
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