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Joe Root shatters Kumar Sangakkara’s record with century against India

LONDON: England ace batter Joe Root etched his name into the record books on Sunday during the final Test against India at The Oval, surpassing Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara.

The right-handed batter who scored his 38th Test century arrived at the crease when England were 82-2 on day five morning.

The Three Lions lost their well-set opener Ben Duckett, who made 54 off 83 balls with the help of six fours.

With England needing a daunting 292 to win in a record chase, Joe Root began cautiously and kept scoring runs to help his team get out of trouble.

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In doing so, he scored his 39th Test century, surpassing Kumar Sangakkara’s tally of 38 tons in the longest form of the game.

Most Test Centuries

1. Sachin Tendulkar – 51 in 200 matches

2. Jacques Kallis – 45 in 166 matches

3. Ricky Ponting – 41 in 167 matches

4. Joe Root – 39* in 159 matches

5. Kumar Sangakkar 38 in 134 matches

Additionally, he became the first-ever player to score over 6,000 runs in the World Test Championship (WTC).

Currently, the ace batter is leading the runs chart in WTC at an outstanding average of 52, followed by Australia’s Steve Smith with 4,278 runs in 55 games in the Championship cycle.

The third on the list is also Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne, who has accumulated 4,225 runs in 53 Tests.

Most runs in World Test Championship:

1. Joe Root 6076* runs in 69* matches

2. Steve Smith 4278 runs in 55 matches

3. Marnus Labuschagne 4225 runs in 53 matches

4. Ben Stokes 3616 runs in 57 matches

5. Travis Head 3300 runs in 52 matches

At the time of filing this story, England were cruising at 325, with 49 more runs needed to win the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy.

Joe Root was on 101* from 135 balls, whereas Jacob Bethell remained unbeaten on one from 22 balls.

READ: WATCH: Mohammed Siraj’s dropped catch helps Harry Brook reach century

ICC World Test Championship Final schedule unveiled

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday revealed the dates for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final, scheduled to be played at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

The one-off Test be played between the top two sides on the WTC points table from 11th to 15th June 2025, with the 16th of June available as a reserve day.

Lord’s will host the WTC final for the first time as Southampton and The Oval served as the hosts for the 2021 and 2023 finals. New Zealand lifted the trophy in 2021, while Pat Cummins-led Australia won the tournament in 2023.

“This Ultimate Test is the culmination of two years of intense competition in the ICC World Test Championship, spanning 69 Test matches over 27 series played to decide the finalists,” the ICC stated in a press release.

“Fans from around the globe will have the opportunity to witness history in the making of a week-long celebration of the longest format of the game.

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“Tickets will be in high demand and fans are asked to register their interest to attend the unique sporting event of mental strength, stamina, technique and strategy.”

It’s worth noting that India are currently sitting at the top of the WTC points table with defending champions Australia following them closely.

However, there are still ample points up for grabs for teams, several contenders such as New Zealand (ranked third), Bangladesh (fourth), England (fifth), South Africa (sixth), and Sri Lanka (seventh) are still in the running for a spot in the final.

“The ICC World Test Championship Final has quickly become one of the most anticipated events in the cricketing calendar and we are pleased to announce the dates for the 2025 edition,” ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said.

“It’s a testament to the enduring appeal of Test cricket, which continues to captivate fans around the world. Tickets will be in high demand so I would encourage fans to register their interest now to ensure they are in with a chance of attending the Ultimate Test next year.”

READ: Bangladesh complete historic series sweep against Pakistan

Babar Azam eyes major milestone during Bangladesh Tests

Pakistan’s ace batter Babar Azam is on the verge of a major World Test Championship (WTC) milestone during the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh, scheduled to commence on August 21.

Babar, one of the most consistent batters across formats in the world currently, is just 339 runs away from joining an elusive list of batters, having breached the 3000-run barrier in WTC history.

The right-handed batter has thus far scored 2,661 runs in WTC, the most by a Pakistani batter. He, however, could become the fifth batter to score 3000 runs in the WTC history to amass the milestone.

England’s Joe Root leads the way with 4,598 WTC runs, followed by Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne with 3,904.

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The four batters, who have breached the 3000-run barrier are either from Australia or England as the two cricketing nations play the most number of Tests.

Meanwhile, if Babar Azam manages to score 339 runs in the two-match series against Bangladesh, he will become the first Asian batter to amass 3000 WTC runs as he is ahead of India’s senior batting duo of Rohit Sharma (2,552) and Virat Kohli (2,235).

The Test series will commence in Rawalpindi, with the first Test scheduled to begin on 21 August. Following that, the action will shift to the National Bank Stadium in Karachi, where the second Test match will be held from 30 August to 3 September.

Pakistan squad for first Test against Bangladesh: Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel, Aamir Jamal (subject to fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi.

READ: Frustrated Babar kicks stumps after being dismissed during practice

Rohit Sharma to lead India in Champions Trophy, World Test Championship: Jay Shah

Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed that Rohit Sharma will lead India in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and World Test Championship after he ended his T20I career with a T20 World Cup triumph.

The top-order batter led India to their second T20 World Cup title last month, ending the cricket-mad nation’s global trophy drought since the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Rohit Sharma, along with star batter Virat Kohli, and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirement from T20I cricket after the win over South Africa in the final in Barbados.

It was also the last match for outgoing coach Rahul Dravid.

“After this victory, the next stage is the 2025 WTC (World Test Championship) final and the Champions Trophy,” Jay Shah said in a video message.

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“I am truly confident that we will win both the tournaments under the leadership of Rohit Sharma.”

Jay Shah praised the trio of veteran players, as well as Dravid. “This was our third final in the last one year,” Shah said, referring to the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship.

The ODI Champions Trophy is scheduled to be held in February and March 2025 in Pakistan, while the World Test Championship cycle will end in June 2025 with the final at Lord’s in London.

India have twice finished runners-up in the Test championship, losing the final to Australia last year. Moreover, they also lost the ODI World Cup final to Australia at home in 2023.

Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy of the white-ball team in 2021 and became the all-format leader a year later.

READ: Arshad Nadeem expresses satisfaction over fourth place finish in Diamond League

Sri Lanka pip Pakistan in WTC25 standings with Bangladesh series sweep

DUBAI: Sri Lanka moved past Pakistan in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings with a clean sweep victory over Bangladesh in the two-match series, concluded earlier on Wednesday.

As per the latest World Test Championship standings, Sri Lanka moved up to fourth place only behind India (first), Australia (second) and New Zealand (third).

Sri Lanka have enhanced their chances of qualifying for next year’s ICC World Test Championship final with a thumping 192-run victory over Bangladesh in the second Test in Chittagong.

The Island nation wrapped up the win in the opening session of the fifth day of the final second of the two-match series at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and clinched a comfortable 2-0 series sweep.

Sri Lanka still has two home series left in this cycle; they are slated to play two Tests at home against New Zealand later this year and a two-match series against Australia in early 2025.

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Their next assignment, however, is a three-match away series against England, commencing in August.

Sri Lanka dominated the majority of their recently-concluded away series with Kamindu Mendis finishing the series as the top run-scorer with 367 runs at an impressive average of 122.33.

Mendis scored an unbeaten 92 in the first innings of the second Test as Sri Lanka amassed a whopping total of 531. Their bowlers promptly backed their efforts by dismissing Bangladesh for a meagre 178 runs in reply.

On the contrary, hosts Bangladesh dropped to equal seventh on the updated World Test Championship standings, with their next series coming in Pakistan later this year when they travel for two Test matches.

READ: Marais Erasmus opens up on 2019 World Cup final umpiring error

Pakistan, India lead the way in WTC25 standings after Ashes sanctions

DUBAI: England and Australia had points deducted from their tally due to a slow over-rate in the Ashes series, which affected the World Test Championship (WTC25) standings.

The gap at the top of the ICC World Test Championship standings has further widened significantly after England and Australia were hit with sanctions at the end of the Ashes.

England were docked 19 points and Australia 10 points as a penalty for slow over-rate across the series as they fell further down the WTC25 standings.

As a result, Asian neighbours Pakistan and India lead the way in the standings, firmly occupying the top two spots after an unbeaten start to WTC25.

Pakistan have made a perfect start to the 2023-25 campaign with a point percentage of 100 after their clean sweep against Sri Lanka. After a closely fought first Test, Babar Azam’s men dominated the hosts with a thumping innings victory in the second Test.

Closely tailing them are India in the second spot with 66.66%, who have a win and a draw against their name after their series against West Indies.

India set the tone with a massive innings win in the first Test but rain dampened their hopes of a clean sweep in the second Test that ended in stalemate.

Before the sanctions, England and Australia had 26 points each and a point percentage of 43.33. After the penalties, Australia dropped to 30% while England plummeted to 15%, taking them below West Indies at 16.67%.

Having been whitewashed 2-0 at home, Sri Lanka are at the bottom with 0 points. Bangladesh, New Zealand and South Africa are yet to kickstart their campaign in the current iteration of the WTC25.

Adding to the misery, Australia lost their top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Rankings as England made an impressive comeback from 2-0 to 2-2 in the Ashes. Tied on 118 points, India are on top on decimal points (118.4 points) as Australia (117.8) drop to second.

England are closing in on top after gaining one point from the drawn series, moving to 115 points.

READ: India blow away West Indies in decider to seal ODI series

Pakistan to play 14 matches as 2023-25 WTC cycle unveiled

DUBAI: Pakistan men’s cricket team will play 14 matches during the next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, which spans from 2023 to 2025.

After dominant Australia thrashed India to win the second edition of the WTC, the International Cricket Council (ICC) unveiled the details of the third cycle in a bid to retain the legacy of the longest format of the game.

As per the ICC-released WTC schedule, Pakistan will play 14 matches against numerous teams over the course of a two-year period.

The Green Shirts will play six series – three home and three away – during their WTC campaign.

Pakistan will take on England, West Indies and Bangladesh in their own backyard while they will face some serious challenges in the away series against reigning champions Australia and South Africa.

The national team, however, will start their WTC campaign with the away series against Sri Lanka, which is likely to commence on July 16.

The third edition of the ICC World Test Championship cycle begins with a clash between a resurgent England side and reigning champions Australia, and will end with a Final at Lord’s in 2025.

Australia might still be revelling in their triumph over India in the ICC World Test Championship Final 2023 but will have to quickly shift their focus to the next WTC cycle that starts with a clash against arch-rivals England on 16 June.

The five-Test Ashes series will kickstart the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle that is set to include 68 matches scheduled across 27 series and the third WTC Final to be played at Lord’s in 2025.

The nine teams set to participate in the WTC 2023-25 cycle are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Each WTC series in the cycle will include two to five Tests, with the nine competing teams each playing six series – three at home, and three away.

The top two teams in the WTC standings will then qualify for the Final at Lord’s.

The nine teams do not necessarily play the same number of matches in the WTC cycle, with the standings determined by the percentage of all possible points earned.

England will feature in the greatest number of Test matches during the WTC cycle with 21, while Australia (19) and India (19) will also line up in regular five-day fixtures.

Each Test included in the World Test Championship has 12 points available for a win, with four awarded to each team for a draw, and six to each team for a tie. No points are earned from a loss, and teams can lose points for slow over rates.

Pakistan WTC schedule:

Away series against Sri Lanka (2 matches)
Away series against Australia (3 matches)
Home series against West Indies (2 matches)
Home series against Bangladesh (2 matches)
Home series against England (3 matches)
Away series against South Africa (2 matches)

READ: Najam Sethi thanks ACC for accepting hybrid model for Asia Cup 2023

In a first, five Australian cricketers win all major ICC titles

LONDON: Five Australian cricketers – Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, David Warner, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc – all became the first to win all major ICC titles following their World Test Championship (WTC) glory.

The pack of Australian cricketers were part of Australia’s last three ICC title victories – ICC World Cup in 2015, ICC T20 World Cup in 2021 and World Test Championship in 2023 – making them grand slam champions.

Australia, having won five ICC World Cups, two ICC Champions Trophy and one T20 World Cup were in pursuit of the one major men’s cricket title – World Test Championship – that had previously eluded them.

The Kangaroos completed their trophy cabinet in style as they blew away India in the final by a massive margin of 209 runs.

After Travis Head and Steve Smith’s magnificent centuries in the first innings, it was Scott Boland who further dented India’s hope of title glory.

Boland did the initial damage with two wickets in Sunday’s seventh over, including the prize scalp of Virat Kohli, on his way to figures of 3-46 in 16 overs.

The right-arm pacer was not part of Australia’s initial plans but Josh Hazlewood’s untimely injury paved the way for his surprise inclusion in the Playing XI.

The 34-year-old seamer seems to have secured his spot in Australia’s starting XI for the first Ashes Test against England at Edgbaston starting on Friday.

“It felt pretty good to get Kohli out,” said Boland, who has now taken 33 wickets in eight Tests at the remarkably low average of 14.57.

“I have been playing state cricket for Victoria for 12 years,” he added. “I have done some hard work and it is nice to play international cricket and get some wickets.”

The defeat means India will have to continue their search for the first ICC title since 2013 despite reaching the finals four times.

READ: Harry Tector pips Babar Azam to win ICC Player of the Month Award

ICC penalizes India after WTC Final defeat

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday sanctioned both Australia and India with hefty fines for slow over rates during the World Test Championship (WTC) Final.

India slipped to defeat on day five of the WTC Final, losing by 209 runs to an inspired Australia in south London.

And it was confirmed shortly after the conclusion of the match on Sunday’s final day that India will lose all of their match fees for their slow over rate, with Australia also docked 80 percent of their match fees.

India were ruled to be five overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration, while Australia were found to be four overs short. In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, players are fined 20 per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.

India’s Shubman Gill will also face a further sanction for appearing to criticise the decision to give him out on the fourth day of the Test, breaching article 2.7 which relates to public criticism or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an international match.

The young opener was fined a further 15% of his match fee, meaning he will have to pay money back as part of his punishment given he has effectively incurred 115% of match fees in fines.

Television umpire Richard Kettleborough adjudged that a catch by Cameron Green to remove Gill had been taken cleanly. Gill took to social media later in the day to make a post that appeared to question the decision.

Seven wickets fell before lunch on the fifth day as India’s hopes of a remarkable victory vanished on a bright and humid Sunday morning in south London.

An additional 15 minutes were taken at the end of the session to allow the final wicket to be taken, and Nathan Lyon did the honours when he picked up the scalp of Mohammed Siraj to secure Australia the World Test Championship title.

READ: Australia beat India to win World Test Championship final

Australia beat India to win World Test Championship final

LONDON: Scott Boland sparked a dramatic collapse as a dominant Australia hammered India by 209 runs to win the World Test Championship final at The Oval on Sunday.

India, set a record 444 to win, resumed on 164-3.

But they slumped to 234 all out before lunch on the fifth day, losing their last five wickets for a mere 22 runs.

Boland did the initial damage with two wickets in Sunday’s seventh over, including the prize scalp of Virat Kohli, on his way to figures of 3-46 in 16 overs.

Off-spinner Nathan Lyon (4-41) then polished off the tail.

Victory meant Australia had now captured the one major men’s cricket title that had previously eluded them.

Boland might not have been in the side but for an injury to Josh Hazlewood.

The 34-year-old seamer now looks to have assured himself of a place in Australia’s XI for the first Ashes Test against England at Edgbaston starting on Friday.

“It felt pretty good to get Kohli out,” said Boland, who has now taken 33 wickets in eight Tests at the remarkably low average of 14.57.

“I have been playing state cricket for Victoria for 12 years,” he added. “I have done some hard work and it is nice to play international cricket and get some wickets.”

Defeat left India, beaten by New Zealand in the inaugural 2021 WTC final in Southampton, still searching for their first piece of global silverware in a decade.

Had India reached a target of 444, it would have surpassed the West Indies’ 418-7 against Australia at St John’s in 2003 as the highest winning fourth-innings chase in Test history.

India were also attempting to top the corresponding Oval record of 263 posted by England in a one-wicket win over Australia way back in 1902.

Yet even though the odds were heavily against their side, scores of India fans, the key component in a cumulative crowd in excess of 100,000 across the five days, still streamed into the ground.

Australia, who had lost their last four Test series against India, were in charge from early on in this match after being sent into bat.

Both player-of-the-match Travis Head (163) and star batsman Steve Smith (121) made hundreds in a first-innings total of 469.

– ‘Savour this ahead of Ashes’ –

“The way Travis and Smith put on that partnership put us at ease,” said Australia captain Pat Cummins.

The fast bowler added: “Boland was fantastic, he’s now my favourite player, everyone just did their role really well…We’ll savour this and then turn our attention to the Ashes.”

India skipper Rohit Sharma said: “In the second innings, we didn’t apply ourselves with the bat…Playing two (WTC) finals is a good achievement for us but, yeah, we would like to go a mile ahead of that as well.”

Chants of “Kohli, Kohli, Kohli” rang out round the ground as the former India captain and Ajinkya Rahane walked out to bat on Sunday.

But Kohli had added just five runs to his overnight score when, on 49, his edged drive off Boland was brilliantly caught by a diving Smith at second slip.

Two balls later, new batsman Ravindra Jadeja fell for a duck, caught behind nicking a superb Boland delivery that seamed away.

Rahane had marked his first Test in over a year by top-scoring with patient 89 in India’s first innings.

But an otherwise composed 46 on Sunday ended when he edged a booming drive off Mitchell Starc straight to wicketkeeper Alex Carey.

Lyon then proved too much for India’s tail and he finished the match when last man Mohammed Siraj was caught off a reverse sweep.