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The interim captain Joe Root was nowhere near the mark as a leader against New Zealand in the second Test of the series. In the absence of skipper Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson, England did not just lose the second Test by 253 runs but faced action from the International Cricket Council (ICC) as well. The rusty skipper Root was not efficient enough to rotate his bowlers and complete the amount of overs needed to be bowled in a day’s play. It led to England getting docked by 12 points, making their maiden WTC final qualification chances look like a distant dream as if the light at the end of the tunnel is light years away.
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The massive deduction due to slow over rate as taken England's WTC win percentage to 34.72 to 26.38. They are only above Pakistan and West Indies on the points table with seven defeats, a draw and 14 penalty points from 12 Tests. In addition, all players of England's playing eleven from Oval Test have been fined 50 per cent of their match fees for maintaining slow over rate.
Here's the updated WTC 2025-27 points table after England's 12-point deduction -
| Pos | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Draw | Ded | Points | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 87.50 |
| 2 | South Africa | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 75.00 |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 66.67 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 66.67 |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 58.33 |
| 6 | India | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 48.15 |
| 7 | England | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 38 | 26.38 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 8.33 |
| 9 | West Indies | 8 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.17 |
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At the Kennington Oval, London, England dearly missed the services of Stokes and Atkinson. An inexperienced pace attack faltered against the Kiwis. The batters struggled as well getting bowled out for 291 and 209 in first and second innings respectively.
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Stokes and Atkinson have been picked for the third Test of the series. But, even a win in the series decider won’t lift them from the seventh spot. The 12-point deduction is likely to haunt them even if they make a miraculous comeback and win their all remaining Tests against Pakistan (three), South Africa (three) and Bangladesh (two).
The third Test will be played at Nottingham, Trent Bridge, starting on June 25.
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