New Zealand Advances to the World Test Championship Final
The recent victory of New Zealand over the West Indies has positioned them favorably to reach the final of the World Test 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, being only 0.086 points behind Australia, after their victory in Wellington.
The situation initially generated some confusion, as the ICC’s prediction tool showed New Zealand at the top for several hours after the match. However, the ICC clarified, through a statement, that Australia remains in first place with 116.461 rating 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 New Zealand repeats the 2-0 result against Pakistan, they will add 420 points from five series.
This means India will need 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 normal circumstances, New Zealand would also have had to earn points in a series in Bangladesh. However, due to the impossibility of playing some series, the ICC had to modify the qualification criteria, switching from absolute points to a percentage of points played, i.e. 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 maintain the lead with a percentage of 74.17, but if they lose 1-2, their percentage will fall to 70.
New Zealand, if they win their two matches against Pakistan, will finish with 84 points per series played, or 70% of the points contested.
When India finishes its series against Australia and England, it will have played six series, totaling 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 victory in the remaining 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 India’s performance against Australia and New Zealand against Pakistan, Australia could increase its lead in first place or concede ground to New Zealand.
