From June 7 to June 11, the second World Test Championship (WTC) final will take place at The Oval in London. While confirming the dates, the ICC stated that the final will have a reserve day on June 12.
The WTC final falls between the IPL final, which is scheduled for May 28 and the Ashes, which starts on June 16 in Birmingham.
This WTC cycle has three series left: India vs. Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will be four tests, New Zealand vs. Sri Lanka for two tests, and South Africa vs. West Indies for two tests. Australia, India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa are the only teams in contention; no finalist has been announced yet.
As things stand, Australia is in a great position to compete in the WTC final. They will secure their spot in the final if they draw just one of their four Test matches against India and do not lose any penalty points due to poor over rates. Anything less than that would mean that Australia would have to wait for other outcomes.
India must defeat Australia by a score of 3-1 or better for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be a confirmed dress rehearsal for the final. Again, India would be dependent on other favorable outcomes if anything was less than that.
Sri Lanka and South Africa would still be dependent on the results of others even if they won both Test series without a loss.
The ICC announced that The Oval and Lord's would host the WTC finals this year and for the third cycle, which will end in 2025, respectively, in September of last year.
In the inaugural WTC final, New Zealand had defeated India by eight wickets in Southampton in June 2021. That match had entered the reserve day after the first and fourth days had been completely washed out by rain. On the back of a clinical performance from their four-pronged pace attack—Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, and Kyle Jamieson—New Zealand had put India in and bowled them out cheaply twice before the experienced duo of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson took them home in a chase of 139.
WTC fixtures remaining in the 2021-23 cycle
Ind vs Aus, Nagpur, Feb 9-13
Ind vs Aus, Delhi, Feb 17-21
Ind vs Aus, Dharamsala, Mar 1-5
Ind vs Aus, Ahmedabad, Mar 9-13
SA vs WI, Centurion, Feb 28-Mar 4
SA vs WI, Johannesburg, Mar 8-12
NZ vs SL, Christchurch, Mar 9-13
NZ vs SL, Wellington, Mar 17-21
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