The International Cricket Council has penalized the England Men's Cricket test team for maintaining a slow over rate against India in the third Test at the Lord's Cricket Ground. For this, the ICC handed two demerit points for the World Test Championship (WTC) Cycle for 2025-27 and 10% match fees to the England players. After the thrilling win against India, the English were promoted to second place with 2 wins out of the 3 matches. They were placed right after the Australian, who recently whitewashed the West Indies for a 3-0 series victory and is enjoying a PCT percentage of 100. Well, with the two WTC demerit points, England has been demoted to third place. With this, England’s total in the World Test Championship (WTC) table decreased from 24 to 22 points out of a possible 36, causing their points percentage to fall from 66.67% to 61.11%. Earlier, Sri Lanka was at the third spot following a 1-0 win against Bangladesh. With England being pulled down, Sri Lanka climbed back to the second spot. with a PCT percentage of 66.67. Match referee Richie Richardson handed down the punishment after determining that the English side fell two overs short of the required target, even after accounting for all allowances within the scheduled time. Under Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which addresses slow over-rate breaches, players incur a 5% deduction from their match fee for each over their team fails to bowl on time. In addition, as per Article 16.11.2 of the World Test Championship (WTC) playing conditions, the team is docked one WTC point for every over short of the target. The statement from ICC reads, “England captain Ben Stokes pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing." Read also: Sundar Trolled as India Lose by 22 Runs Despite Jadeja Heroics Updated WTC 2025-27 Points Table Position Team Matches Won Lost Draw Points PCT% 1. Australia 3 3 – – 36 100 2 Sri Lanka 3 1 – 1 16 66.67 3 England 3 2 1 – 22 61.11 4. India 3 1 2 – 12 33.33 5. Bangladesh 2 – 1 – 4 16.67 6. West Indies 3 – 3 – 0 0 7. New Zealand – – – – – – 8. Pakistan – – – – – – 9. South Africa – – – – – –