Explained: Why Sri Lanka still have no points in ICC WTC 2023-25 table despite defeating Afghanistan in one-off test

Sri Lanka won the one-off test by 10 wickets against Afghanistan.

Sri Lanka defeated Afghanistan by ten wickets in their only test played at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Afghanistan, having been bowled out for 296 in their second innings, set a modest target of 56 for Sri Lanka.

The openers, Dimuth Karunaratne (32 not out) and Nishan Madushka (22 not out), chased down the required runs in 7.2 overs.

Afghanistan faced an uphill task after losing a 241-run lead in the first innings, but they showed perseverance in the second innings, particularly Ibrahim Zadran, who scored his first Test century. Rahmat Shah also contributed a half-century, but when the essential duo was removed, Afghanistan fell.

Afghanistan had a great chance of making a comeback on day 3 at Stumps. They trailed by 42 runs with nine wickets remaining in their first innings. Ibrahim Zadran was unbroken at 101, and Rahmat Shah also got his eyes in.

But Sri Lanka and Jayasuriya came out firing on all cylinders as Afghanistan lost their last nine wickets for 97 runs in a space of 34.2 overs.

Prabath Jayasuriya shined for them, taking five wickets in the second innings and finishing with figures of 47-10-107-5. The left-armer also claimed three wickets and had match statistics of 72-17-174-8.

After the one-off test, the two teams will face each other in the ODI series, which will start on February 9 with the opening game at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

Why Sri Lanka still have no points in ICC WTC 2023-25 table despite defeating Afghanistan in one-off test

This one-off test match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan was not part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2023-25), hence despite a brilliant 10-wicket win, Sri Lanka didn’t benefit in the recent WTC points table update. This is mainly due to Afghanistan not being a part of WTC.

Apart from Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe are also not part of the World Test Championship. Zimbabwe earned Test status in 1992, while Ireland and Afghanistan, became Full Members by gaining test status in 2017. Before this match, Ireland had had only six tests since, while Afghanistan had just three. Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan combined to play just 23 tests from 2017 to 2022.

This meant that despite registering a brilliant win, Sri Lanka didn’t earn any WTC points and their spot in the WTC 2023-25 table remains static.

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