The World Test Championship (WTC) cycle that commenced with the Ashes 2019 will finally precipitate with a contest between India and New Zealand at Southampton’s Hampshire Bowl.
Nine teams – India, Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies – battled it out for the top two spots to qualify for the finale of the maiden event.
New Zealand, the second-ranked team in the latest ICC Test rankings, were the first one to qualify after the Australia tour of South Africa was postponed earlier this year.
Whereas the other finalists – India- had to make a comeback against England to qualify for the final and make it to the numero uno spot in the Test rankings.
The WTC Final is scheduled to be played from June 18 to June 22, with June 23 as reserved day.
This is the first Test where an extra day has been added as it will be used to culminate the game provided there has been a substantial loss in the net playing time or a considerable loss of overs in the initial five days.
With six hours of cricket unrolling each day, the net playing time comes to 30 hours for the entire show. The overs to be bowled per day have to be limited to 90.
Thus, if rain mars the game or due to any other factor, the parameter of the net playing time or the quota of 90 overs is not fulfilled, only then the reserved day will be used to compensate for the loss.
However, if a match ends in a draw, then the reserved day won’t be used to declare a clear winner. Instead, the trophy will be shared by both the teams. They will be adjudged the champions irrespective of their position on the ICC Test Rankings.
