New Zealand advances to the final of the World Test Cricket Championship
New Zealand’s recent victory over the West Indies has boosted their chances of reaching the final of the World Test Cricket Championship (WTC), which will be held at Lord’s in June 2021.
New Zealand was on the verge of reaching the top spot in the Test rankings, finishing just 0.086 points behind Australia after their victory in Wellington.
However, the news was not without drama. After the match, the ICC’s predictor tool showed New Zealand at the top of the table, which caused confusion. The ICC clarified in a tweet that Australia occupies 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. For their part, New Zealand’s two victories over the West Indies earned 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, 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 prevent New Zealand from reaching the WTC final at Lord’s.
Due to the pandemic, the ICC had to change the absolute points classification criteria to a percentage of points contested. Australia currently leads the WTC table, with 82.2% of the points won.
If New Zealand wins its two matches against Pakistan, it will finish with 84 points per series played or 70% of the points played.
India, which currently has 360 points from four series played, will have played six series or 720 points when their series against Australia and England are finished. 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 earn them 10 points. Five victories or four victories and three draws will put them ahead of New Zealand.
Regarding the rankings, depending on how the India vs. Australia and New Zealand vs. Pakistan series unfold, Australia could increase its lead at number 1 or concede ground to New Zealand.
