Australia made a convincing 9-wicket win over India in the third test, helping them book a place in this year’s ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final in England. But who joins them, India or Sri Lanka, in the finals remains wide open.
Aussies have been one of the most dominant sides during this World Test Championship. Under Pat Cummins’ leadership, the team has won 11 of the 18 tests they have featured in. Their latest win against India in Indore came on the back of their veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who scalped 11 wickets in the match to make up for the unexpected absence of Pat Cummins.
While the batting collapse of Australians in the series made the run-chase nervy, Travis Head’s unbeaten 49 and Marnus Labuschangne (28*) steered them to this historic win.
With this win, they have accumulated 68.52 points in the WTC points table to finish first in the standings, irrespective of the result of this series against India.
India v Australia: Here’s how India can still qualify for the WTC finals in June.
Though the Men in Blue hold second place on the standings with 60.29 points, they have a chance to qualify for the one-off test at the Oval in June. But they can be overtaken by Sri Lanka for the finals.
A victory in the fourth Test match against Australia in Ahmedabad will ensure India’s spot in the WTC final. Still, another win for the visitors or a draw can open the doors for Sri Lanka to snatch the spot.
Sri Lanka has two test matches to be played against New Zealand this month, and they need to win by a 2-0 series sweep over the Kiwis to have a chance of snatching a spot in the WTC final.
India will clash with Australia in the fourth test commencing from March 9 to win their WTC Finals spot at Ahmedabad.