New Zealand close 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 in June 2021 at Lord’s.
New Zealand was a step away from reaching the top spot in the Test ranking: it is only 0.086 points behind Australia.
The victory in Wellington generated some initial confusion, as the ICC’s predictive tool showed New Zealand at the top for several hours. However, the ICC clarified in a tweet that Australia holds the first place with 116.461 rating points, while New Zealand has 116.375.
Australia could consolidate its advantage if it wins the home series against India. For its part, New Zealand added 300 WTC points after 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 reach 420 points in five series.
This would leave India needing five wins, or four wins and three draws, in their last eight matches (away against Australia and at home against England) to deny New Zealand a place in the WTC final.
Due to the pandemic, the ICC modified the classification criteria, moving from absolute points to a percentage of points disputed.
Currently, Australia leads the WTC table with 82.2% of the points won. If they manage a 2-2 draw against India, they will still lead with 74.17%, but if they lose 1-2, their percentage will fall to 70%. Australia also has a three-match test series scheduled 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 disputed.
India, which currently has 360 points after four series played, will have played six series or 720 points when it finishes its series against Australia and England. They will need to surpass 504 points to surpass New Zealand’s score of 84 points per series or 70% of the points played. Each of their remaining victories in the tests will now be worth 30 points, and draws will give them 10 points. Five victories or four victories and three draws will take them ahead of New Zealand.
Regarding the rankings, depending on how the India vs. Australia series and the New Zealand vs. Pakistan series go, Australia could extend its lead at number 1 or concede ground to New Zealand.
