ICC World Test Championship Point Table: West Indies registered a clinical victory in the first Test against England in Southampton.
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During the first Test of the ongoing West Indies’ tour of England in Southampton, West Indies beat England by 4 wickets to gain a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
With international cricket returning after several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans were due to witness an archetype humdinger of a match. Thankfully for them, England and Wets Indies didn’t let them down as a tight Day 5 finish saw West Indies chasing down a 200-run target despite as many as four initial blows.
Playing a full Test match after more than 32 months, West Indies batsman Jermaine Blackwood once again proved his mettle as his 11th Test half-century played a monumental role in leading the visitors past the victory line.
Having scored 605 runs at an average of 55 (average of 24 against other teams) and a strike rate of 63.15 including a century and three half-centuries in seven Tests against England, the 28-year old batsman sure favours facing the English attack.
Not part of the original squad, West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel registered match figures of 36.5-7-137-9 to earn his third Man of the Match award in the format.
ICC World Test Championship Point Table
The victory sees West Indies get off the mark in the ICC World Test Championship. Since 40 points are awarded after a victory in a three-match series of the Test Championship, West Indies have replaced South Africa at the seventh position on the points table.
Losing four out of their 10 matches so far means that England continue to be at the fourth position on the table. While Pakistan (140) and Sri Lanka (80) are at the fifth and sixth position respectively, South Africa and Bangladesh are at the bottom of the table on the back of 24 and no points to their name respectively.
India (360), Australia (296) and New Zealand (180) continue to take control of the top three positions. With Australia having played 10 matches as compared to India’s nine and New Zealand’s seven, they sure have less opportunities going forward.
