Full Breakdown: Who will face New Zealand in the WTC final? Read here-
NewsBharati 03-Feb-2021
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With South Africa-Australia series being postponed indefinitely, it is unlikely to be rescheduled in time for the results to come out before the World Test Championship ( WTC ) final, held in June at Lord's. Due to this, different scenarios have emerged in the points table of the World Test Championship. One of the confirmed scenarios is that New Zealand is through to the finals. This has resulted in leaving one spot up for grabs for all - India, England, and Australia.
Let us go through what are the chances of these teams to get qualify for the inaugural ICC WTC.
1. How New Zealand are through to the finals?
New Zealand are currently No.2 in the the WTC standings and it should be noted that they have played all their league matches in the tournament. India are currently at the top spot with a PCT of 71.7 per cent, following their 2-1 series triumph in Australia.
Besides, Australia marginally behind New Zealand on the points table at this stage, will not get the opportunity to go past them now. India and England will be locking horns against each other, only one of them can exceed New Zealand's points percentage of 70.
2. So, will it be India?
In India's account, there are four home Tests matches against England remaining. Having the highest PCT, India are at the top of the WTC standings. In order to qualify for final, they will have to win with a minimum margin of 2-0 against England. The requirement will remain the same even if they lose a Test in the series.
These are the series scorelines that will see India qualify for the final: 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1, 4-0. Any other result, however, and India will not make it through.
3. Will Australia be able to book a place in finals?
Yes. Australia are not out of it yet, but they will be ruing the four points they dropped because of a slow over-rate against India in the Boxing Day Test. Now, it all depends on India vs England matches. If the two teams share the total points on offer from the series in such a way that their overall percentages drop below Australia's 69.17, then Australia can still make it to the final. That can happen only if the series is drawn (by any margin), or if England win 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1, or if India win 1-0.
4. And what about England, don't they have a chance too?
Yes, they have a chance to be in the finals. But, they have a tall task ahead of them, if they are to make the final of the WTC. A series victory is a necessity for them to make it through, but even that might prove insufficient.
England will need to win at least three matches in the four-Test series to make it through, and meet New Zealand in the final. In essence, that would mean a series victory by the margin of 0-4, 0-3 or 1-3. And England need 87 points from these four Tests to go past Australia. That means they need to win at least three matches. History is against them there, though - the last time a touring team won three Tests in a series in India was West Indies, in 1983-84.