The England Test team defeated India by 22 runs in the third Test match, taking a 2-1 lead in the five-match Test series. The fourth Test will be played in Manchester starting from July 23. However, just days after their strong win at Lord’s Cricket Ground, England faced a major setback from the ICC on Wednesday. Due to a slow over-rate, England were penalised with a deduction of two points. Former cricketer Michael Vaughan expressed his displeasure over the decision and questioned the ICC’s judgment. He believes that penalising only one team is unfair.
Vaughan tweeted on Wednesday, “Honestly, both teams had a poor over-rate at Lord’s. How can only one team be punished? It makes no sense to me.” Apart from the two-point deduction, Ben Stokes-led England were also fined 10% of their match fees after the Test. Despite winning the match by 22 runs, the deduction caused England to slip to third place in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-2027 standings.
According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), match referee Richie Richardson imposed the penalty on England as they were two overs short of the target within the allotted time. India currently sits fourth in the WTC points table. With the penalty, England’s points dropped from 24 to 22, which also reduced their percentage from 66.67% to 61.11%. As a result, Sri Lanka, whose percentage is 66.67, overtook England to claim second place.
In an official statement, the ICC said, “As per Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct related to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined 5% of their match fee for each over short of the target.”
The statement further read, “Additionally, according to Article 16.11.2 of the ICC World Test Championship playing conditions, one point is deducted from the team’s total for each over not bowled within the stipulated time. Hence, England have been docked two points in the WTC standings.”