India and South Africa faced off at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata for the first of a two-match Test series, in which the visitors outclassed the hosts.
The Temba Bavuma-led side, current ICC World Test Championship (WTC) winners, managed to defend a low 124-run target, as India faltered in the absence of their captain, Shubman Gill.
It was a pitch where batting seemed pretty challenging, and South Africa made full use of these conditions. Spinner Simon Harmer was adjudged Player of the Match for securing 8 wickets across the two innings.
As this clash falls under the current WTC cycle, its result has made a significant change to the points table. For those interested, here’s what it looks like right now.
WTC Updated Points Table After IND vs SA 1st Test
Australia: Matches – 3, Won – 3, Lost – 0, Drawn – 0, Points – 36, Win Percentage – 100
South Africa: Matches – 3, Won – 2, Lost – 1, Drawn – 0, Points – 24, Win Percentage – 66.67
Sri Lanka: Matches – 2, Won – 1, Lost – 0, Drawn – 1, Points – 16, Win Percentage – 66.67
India: Matches – 8, Won – 4, Lost – 3, Drawn – 1, Points – 52, Win Percentage – 54.17
Pakistan: Matches – 2, Won – 1, Lost – 1, Drawn – 0, Points – 12, Win Percentage – 50.00
England: Matches – 5, Won – 2, Lost – 2, Drawn – 1, Points – 26, Win Percentage – 43.33
Bangladesh: Matches – 2, Won – 0, Lost – 1, Drawn – 1, Points – 4, Win Percentage – 16.67
West Indies: Matches – 5, Won – 0, Lost – 5, Drawn – 0, Points – 0, Win Percentage – 0
South Africa has gone up from the fourth spot to the second after beating India in Kolkata, whereas India has slipped a spot down following the result.
The two sides will face off again in a couple of days, in Guwahati, providing the Shubman Gill-led side an opportunity to make ammends. They can’t win the series, only lose or draw it from this point, but a victory would help their cause regarding the WTC standings a bit.
New Zealand is a also a part of the World Test Championship. In fact, they are the inaugural winners of the competition. However, they are absent from the table due to not playing any Tests in this cycle so far.
