New Zealand’s recent victory over the West Indies has boosted their chances of reaching the final of the World Test Championship (WTC), which will be held in June 2021 at Lord’s.New Zealand came close to reaching the top spot in the Test ranking: it is only 0.086 points behind Australia, after its victory by innings in Wellington.
However, the news was accompanied by some confusion. For several hours after the match, the ICC’s prediction tool showed New Zealand at the top of the table. This turned out to be an error, as the ICC clarified via a tweet that Australia occupies first place with 116.461 rating points, while New Zealand has 116.375.
Australia could consolidate its lead if it wins the home series against India. For its part, the two victories over the West Indies took New Zealand to 300 WTC points, accumulated in four series in the current cycle, which ends on March 31, 2021.If New Zealand repeats the 2-0 result against Pakistan later, it will end up with 420 points in five series.This will leave India needing to secure five wins (or four wins and three draws) in 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.
In a world without a pandemic, New Zealand would also have had to earn points in a series in Bangladesh, but due to the impossibility of playing some series, the ICC had to change the criteria for qualifying from absolute points to a percentage of points played. That is, points per series played.Currently, Australia leads the WTC table, with 82.2% of the points won. If they manage a 2-2 draw against India, they will continue to lead the table with a percentage of 74.17%. If they lose 1-2, their percentage will fall to 70%.Australia is also scheduled for a three-test series in South Africa.If New Zealand wins its two tests against Pakistan, it will finish with 84 points per series played or 70% of the points played.When India completes 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 victories in the tests will be worth 30 points, and draws will give 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 extend its lead at number 1 or concede ground to New Zealand.
