WTC 2023–25 Standings Following First Test Between ENG and SL: England Advances Three Places Following Win Against Sri Lanka

 Following a five-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in the opening Test of the three-match series at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday, August 24, England moved up the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023–25 rankings. On day four of the first series, Ollie Pope's England team overcame a resolute Sri Lankan side and took a 1-0 lead thanks to performances of the highest calibre from Joe Root, Chris Woakes, and Jamie Smith.

After choosing to bat first, captain Dhananjaya de Silva (74 off 84 balls) and rookie Milan Rathnayake (72 off 135 balls) helped save Sri Lanka from 113/7 to 236. The two best bowlers for England were Shoaib Bashir (3/55) and Chris Woakes (3/32). 

In reply, England amassed 358 runs and took a 122-run advantage thanks to impressive efforts from middle order batsmen Root (42 off 57 balls) and Harry Brook (56 off 73 balls), as well as a century from Jamie Smith (111 off 148 balls). For Sri Lanka, Ashitha Fernando (4/103) and Prabhat Jayasuriya (3/85) produced excellent sessions. 

With the score at 95/4 in their second inning, the visitors were in trouble once more. But the rescue operation was initiated by veterans Angelo Matthews (65 off 145 balls) and Dinesh Chandimal (79 off 119 balls).

Later, with Sri Lanka at 326 and a reasonable advantage of 204 runs, in-form Kamindu Mendis hammered his second Test century in five innings with 113 runs off 183 balls. Woakes and Matthew Potts (347) shared the top spot in the England bowling stats with three wickets apiece. England was in a precarious situation at 70/3 in response. 

Nevertheless, England won by five wickets because to Root's cool-headed half-century (62* off 128 balls) and the useful contributions of Brook (32 off 68 balls) and Smith (39* off 48 balls). Following their five-wicket victory in Manchester, England shot up three spots to fourth on the World Test Championship points table, above Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and South Africa.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, dropped to fifth on the standings with a 40.00 percent win-loss percentage, while England's win percentage improved to 41.07. Here is a look at the latest WTC standings:

World Test Championship Points Table following the first test between England and Sri Lanka on August 25, 2024

Teams	Matches	Win	Lost	Draw	Win %	Points
India	9	6	2	1	68.51	74
Australia	12	8	3	1	62.50	90
New Zealand	6	3	3	0	50.00	36
England	14	7	6	1	41.07	69
Sri Lanka	5	2	3	0	40.00	24
South Africa	6	2	3	1	38.89	28
Pakistan	5	2	3	0	36.66	22
Bangladesh	4	1	3	0	25.00	12
West Indies	9	1	6	2	18.52	20

Still, in the upcoming two Test matches against England, Sri Lanka will have an opportunity to take back their top four ranking. In a two-match Test series, Pakistan and Bangladesh will also have the opportunity to swap places. 

The upcoming week, when Test activity takes main stage with Pakistan hosting Bangladesh and England hosting Sri Lanka, will see a bit more movement in the lower half of the WTC table. 

Top-ranked India will return to domestic Test play against Bangladesh in September, coinciding with Sri Lanka's hosting of New Zealand. The Test matches for the WTC 2023–25 cycle that are slated for August, September, and the beginning of October are as follows:

WTC Matches Schedule For August to September 

• August 29-September 2: England vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test - Lord's (London) 
• August 30-September 3: Pakistan vs Bangladesh 2nd Test - Karachi 
• September 6-10: England vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test - Oval (London) 
• September 18-22: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 1st Test - Galle 
• September 19-23: India vs Bangladesh 1st Test - Chennai 
• September 26-30: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 2nd Test - Galle 
• September 27-October 1: India vs Bangladesh 2nd Test - Kanpur