ICC World Test Championship Points Table (updated) as on 27th January 2020
Mark Wood's terrific performances in the final Test match of the series between South Africa and England helped the visitors win the 4-match series with the scoreline of 3-1. The hosts bowed down to the pace of Wood as they lost the Test by 191 runs.
Electing to bat first after winning the toss in Johannesburg, England posted a brilliant score of 400 runs on the board. Zak Crawley, Joe Root and Ollie Pope recorded a fifty each, while Stuart Broad and Wood played quickfire cameos in the end to drag England's total to 400. Anrich Nortje troubled the English batsmen with his five-wicket haul, however, he got little support from his teammates.
In reply, the Proteas were shot out for just 183 runs in their first innings. Wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock fought like a one-man army as he aggregated 76 runs in the middle order. Seven South African batsmen failed to reach double digits as Wood, Ben Stokes and Sam Curran bamboozled them with the ball.
With a monumental lead of 217 runs, England tried to set a mega target for South Africa in the second innings. Although the batsmen could not match their performance from the first innings, captain Root's half-century guided them to 248 runs in the second innings. Beuran Hendricks proved to be the wrecker-in-chief for South Africa as he scalped five wickets for the home side.
Chasing a target of 466 runs, South Africa got off to a good start, courtesy of some solid performances from the quartet of Rassie van der Dussen, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis and De Kock. Unfortunately, none of the batsmen could bat with the required patience in the middle as England took out the lower order batsmen soon to seal the deal.
Here's a look at the updated points table of ICC World Test Championship after the series between South Africa and England.
England have cemented third position with 146 points from nine matches. They registered their first series win of the ICC World Test Championship. On the other side, South Africa continue to languish at the seventh position with just a solitary win in seven matches. The Proteas will have to bring their 'A' game to the table soon otherwise they might not even finish in the top five.
Also Read - ICC World Test Championship Schedule 2019-21: Full Time Table and Fixtures for all teams
Both the sides will now lock horns with each other in the limited overs format. As far as their ICC World Test Championship campaigns are concerned, England will play a series against Sri Lanka next while South Africa will head to West Indies to play a 2-Test series in July.