The World Test Championship (WTC) saw different series take place which brought some changes in the points table. While Australia lost to India in the Boxing Day Test, the host continued to maintain their top spot. New Zealand however, climbed to the third place after defeating Pakistan in their 1st Test series.
Australia does continue to sit on the top stop, however, they faced some issues after the International Cricket Council (ICC) added salt to their wounds with a heavy fine and loss of points in the WTC.
The Aussie players were fined 40 per cent of their match fee and have lost four WTC points for their slow over-rate against India in the second Test at the MCG. The decision was taken by ICC match referee David Boon. He slapped the penalty on the Aussies after they were ruled to be two overs short of the target over-rate.
As for New Zealand, they continued their dominance in home Tests as they notched up a magnificent 101-run win against Pakistan. The visitors suffered a dramatic collapse in the final session and despite some determination from the tail, New Zealand managed to pull off a famous win in Kane Williamson's hometown of Bay Oval.
The win was especially significant for New Zealand as they became the No. 1 ranked Test team in the world for the first time in their cricketing history.
PCT is points earned/points available - Teams will be ranked in order of percentage of points earned.
| Position |
Team |
Matches |
Won |
Lost |
Drawn |
Points |
PTC |
| 1 |
Australia |
12 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
322 |
0.766 |
| 2 |
India |
11 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
390 |
0.722 |
| 3 |
New Zealand |
10 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
360 |
0.667 |
| 4 |
England |
15 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
292 |
0.608 |
| 5 |
Pakistan |
9 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
166 |
0.346 |
| 6 |
South Africa |
8 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
84 |
0.280 |
| 7 |
Sri Lanka |
5 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
80 |
0.267 |
| 8 |
West Indies |
7 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
40 |
0.111 |
| 9 |
Bangladesh |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0.000 |
Points in the WTC are evenly distributed over the number of matches in a series (two to five), the points varying from 60 for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series.
The ICC World Test Championship has been introduced to add context to the longest format of the game with nine teams featuring in matches which were decided by the Member countries as per their bilateral agreements. Bangladesh and Pakistan are the other teams in the championship.
The top two teams at the end of the league will advance to the final, which will be played in the UK in June 2021 with the winners crowned the World Test Champions.
