Sri Lanka have kept their chances of reaching their maiden World Test Championship (WTC) final alive with their biggest win over New Zeland in the format. Sri Lanka won the second Test of the two-Test series by an innings and 154 runs. They are now ranked third on WTC 2023-25 points table with five wins from nine games. They have a win percentage of 55.56.
Meanwhile, New Zealand slipped from third spot to seventh after suffering their fifth defeat from eight games.
WTC Points Table
Position | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | Percentage Points | Points |
| 1 | India | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 71.67% | 86 |
| 2 | Australia | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 62.50% | 90 |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 55.56% | 60 |
| 4 | England | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 42.19% | 81 |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 39.29% | 33 |
| 6 | South Africa | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 38.89% | 28 |
| 7 | New Zealand | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 37.50% | 36 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 19.05% | 16 |
| 9 | West Indies | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 18.52% | 20 |
Next Test series for Sri Lanka and New Zealand
Sri Lanka's next Test series is against South Africa. On South African soil, the Test series will start in the last week of November. Sri Lanka need two wins to stay in the hunt of reaching the final.
On the other hand, New Zealand have two three-Test series against India and England. They will play India in India and host England at home. The winners of inaugural WTC season need to beat India and England in the series to have a chance of making it to their second final.
Big win for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in a Test series for the first since since 2009. After winning the toss, Dhananjaya de Silva opted to bat first at Galle International Stadium.
Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis and Kusal Mendis scored centuries to help Sri Lanka post 602/5. Kamindu equalled legendary Don Bradman's feat as he completed 1,000 runs in his eighth Test. Only Glenn Phillips and skipper Tim Southee managed to take wickets.
In reply, New Zealand were bowled out for 88, their lowest score on Sri Lankan soil. Prabath Jayasuriya took six wickets whereas debutant Nishan Peiris claimed three. Following on, Devon Conway, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner scored fifties but it wasn't enough to avoid series defeat. They were bowled out for 360 as Peiris bagged a six-wicket haul.
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