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England and New Zealand were fined 15% of their match fees and penalised three World Test Championship points each for slow over-rates in the first Test at Christchurch, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday.
Although England cannot reach next year's final at Lord's despite their eight-wicket win at Hagley Oval, the penalty dropped New Zealand from joint fourth to fifth, a major blow to their chances of reaching next year’s showpiece game.
The deduction is a welcome news for India, who enjoy pole position with 61.11 percentage points.
New Zealand now have a points percentage of 47.92 percent and can only move as high as 55.36 percent with victories from their remaining two fixtures against England. South Africa (59.26), Australia (57.26) and Sri Lanka (50) are placed second, third and fourth respectively.
It means the inaugural World Test Championship winners face a tough ask to qualify for next year's one-off Test in June 2025, with two wins against England and several other results also needing to go their way if they are to reach the Lord's decider.
The teams were deemed three overs short of the required target and both captains, New Zealand's Tom Latham and England's Ben Stokes, pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the punishment.
The second Test starts in Wellington on Friday.