Published: Dec 04, 2024, 01:42 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 04, 2024, 01:42 PM (IST)
England Test skipper Ben Stokes took a sharp swipe at ICC after his side was penalized of 3 World Test Championship (WTC) points following a slow-over-rate in their Test match against New Zealand in Christchurch. Stokes claimed that the match was finished with “10 hours of play still left”.
The race to the WTC final became even more intense after both New Zealand and England were handed a 3-point penalty each. Both the teams were fined 15 per cent of their match fees as well.
On Tuesday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced sanctions against New Zealand and England for failing to maintain the required over-rate
Taking to Instagram, Stokes said, “Good on you ICC (accompanied by three shrugging emojis). Finished the game with 10 hours of play still left.”
“New Zealand and England were both found to be three overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration, with sides penalized one point for each over they were found short,” ICC said in a statement.
England skipper Stokes and New Zealand captain Tom Latham accepted the charges and the proposed sanctions, negating the need for a formal hearing.
Though the point deduction didn’t do much harm to England as they were already out of contention for the WTC final, it dealt a massive blow to New Zealand, who dropped from 4th to the 5th spot on the WTC points table.
