The recent victory of New Zealand over the West Indies has boosted their aspirations of reaching the final of the World Test Cricket Championship (WTC), which will be held in June 2021 at Lord’s.New Zealand was close to reaching the top spot in the test ranking, being only 0.086 points behind Australia, after their victory in Wellington.However, the news was accompanied by some confusion. For several hours after the match, the ICC’s predictor tool showed New Zealand at the top of the table, which generated debate.The ICC clarified in a tweet that Australia is in 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. 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 later on, they will end up with 420 points from five series.This will leave India needing 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 because some series could not be played, the ICC had to change the criteria for absolute point classification to a percentage of points played. In other words, points per series played.Australia currently 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, but if they lose 1-2, their percentage will fall to 70. Australia also has a series of three tests scheduled in South Africa.If New Zealand wins its two tests against Pakistan, they will finish with 84 points per series played or 70% of the points played.
When India, currently with 360 points from four series played, 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 wins in the tests 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.
Regarding the rankings, depending on how the India vs. Australia series and the New Zealand vs. Pakistan series go, Australia could consolidate its lead at number 1 or concede ground to New Zealand.
