New Zealand Advances to the World Test Championship Final
The recent victory of New Zealand over the West Indies gives them a great opportunity to reach the final of the World Test Championship (WTC), which will be held in June 2021 at Lord’s.
New Zealand came very close to reaching the number 1 spot in the Test ranking, being only 0.086 points behind Australia after their victory in Wellington.
However, there was a bit of confusion after the match, as the ICC’s prediction tool initially placed New Zealand at the top of the table. The ICC clarified in a tweet that Australia holds the first place with 116.461 ranking points, while New Zealand has 116.375.
Australia will look to consolidate their lead in the home series against India. New Zealand’s two wins over the West Indies gave them 300 WTC points from four series in the current cycle, which ends on March 31, 2021. If they repeat the 2-0 result against Pakistan later on, they will finish with 420 points from five series.
This will leave India needing five wins, or four wins and three draws, from their last eight Test matches (away against Australia and at home against England) to deny New Zealand a place in the WTC final.
Due to the current circumstances, the ICC had to change the absolute points qualification criteria to a percentage of points contested. Currently, Australia leads the WTC table with 82.2% of the points won.
If New Zealand wins both Test matches against Pakistan, it will finish with 84 points per series played or 70% of the points at stake.
By the time India finishes its series against Australia and England, it will have played six series or 720 points. They will need to surpass 504 points to exceed New Zealand’s score of 84 points per series or 70% of the points played. Each of their remaining Test victories will be worth 30 points, and draws will give them 10 points.
Depending on how the India vs. Australia and New Zealand vs. Pakistan series unfold, Australia could extend its lead at number 1 or concede ground to New Zealand.
