New Zealand Advances to the Final of the World Test Cricket Championship
The recent victory of New Zealand over the West Indies has positioned them favorably to reach the final of the World Test Cricket Championship (WTC), which will be held in June 2021 at Lord’s.
Following their innings victory in Wellington, New Zealand are very close to the top spot in the Test rankings: they are only 0.086 points behind Australia.
The situation generated some confusion due to an initial error in the ICC’s predictive tool, which showed New Zealand at the top. However, the ICC clarified that Australia holds first place with 116.461 rating points, while New Zealand has 116.375.
Australia could consolidate its lead if it wins the series at home against India. For its part, New Zealand’s two victories over the West Indies gave them 300 WTC points from four series in the current cycle, which ends on March 31, 2021.
If New Zealand repeats the 2-0 result against Pakistan, they will finish with 420 points from five series.
This would leave India needing five wins, or four wins and three draws, from their last eight Tests (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.
Australia currently 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 a percentage of 74.17%, but if they lose 1-2, their percentage will fall to 70%.
New Zealand will finish with 84 points per series played or 70% of the points contested if they win both Tests against Pakistan.
India, which currently has 360 points from four series played, will have played six series or 720 points at the end of its series against Australia and England. 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 now be worth 30 points, and draws will give them 10 points. Five wins or four wins and three draws will leave them ahead of New Zealand.
As for the rankings, depending on how the India vs. Australia series and the New Zealand vs. Pakistan series go, Australia could consolidate its lead in the number 1 position or concede ground to New Zealand.
