India and New Zealand were the two teams to play in the final of the first World Test Championship (WTC). Australia were in a position to secure a place in the WTC final, but in the Boxing Day Test against India, four points were imposed. The series was the last chance for Penn to earn a WTC point as his tour of South Africa was canceled. After losing the WTC final, Australian Test captain Tim Paine has said that his failure to enter the WTC final was like drinking a ‘bitter sip’.
Paine said match referees need to show more consistency when penalizing points for slower rates. It is noteworthy that New Zealand became the world Test champion after beating India by eight wickets at Southampton last month. India then had to play their home series against England and Virat Kohli and his team scored enough points in the final against New Zealand.
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“We were very disappointed that we weren’t able to make it (the WTC final) because of the slow rate,” Penn told reporters. Unfortunately I think we are a team that has to suffer a high rate of fines. Paine insisted that the match referee should show more consistency when penalizing points. “There have been a lot of Test matches in the last two years, where teams haven’t been able to bowl full overs in a given time and I’m not sure how many teams have lost points,” he said.
“I think there needs to be more consistency in this (point penalty). The tournament is big and you can lose four points in a few overs,” Paine said. Wicketkeeper-batsman Paine said Australia was the only team to cut points for over-rated offenses. He said, ‘We did not bowl overs in the stipulated time. All I need is continuity. I didn’t play many days (in Test cricket) when full overs were thrown, and to my knowledge, no other team cut points.
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Paine said, ‘Yeah, it’s like drinking a bitter sip, you’re the only team that cuts points. Paine said it was difficult to see a title match between India and New Zealand. He said, ‘I’ve never seen the whole match. I watched the last day’s game. I was thrilled to see the first day’s game, but then I didn’t. I watched the last game and it was very exciting, good cricket.
