ICC World Test Championship



The World Test Championship will begin on August 1, 2019, and will include nine nations participating in 71 Test matches over two years in 27 series. Each team, made up of the world's top nine Test teams, will play three home and three away series. In June 2021, the top two teams will participate in the ICC World Test Championship Final in the United Kingdom, with the victors being proclaimed World Test Champions.

The WTC was created to provide bilateral Test cricket a context. As the world's finest teams face head to head, every game will be crucial. For each game, points will be available. The WTC recognises the significance of cricket's longest format and provides a pinnacle event for it, similar to the World Cups for men and women in the ODI and T20I formats.

The WTC was open to the top nine ranked teams on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings as of March 31, 2018. The WTC features teams from Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies. Starting in August 2019, the WTC will be played throughout many continents over a two-year period. The games will be played in the same manner as any other bilateral series, but with the extra backdrop of a competition and a single champion team. The nine teams will compete in 27 series, with the winner being determined after 71 Test matches. In June 2021, the final will be held.

Six of the eight probable opponents will be played by each of the nine teams in the WTC, with three series at home and three series away. The number of matches in each series can range from two to five, with the number of matches agreed upon by the two opposing teams prior to the commencement of the competition. The WTC's first cycle will consist solely of five-day Test matches, with day/night matches permitted if mutually agreed upon by the rival teams.

Each team competes in six series, with each series offering a total of 120 points. These points will be distributed evenly among the amount of games in each series. A win in each Test match will earn 60 points in a two-match series, whereas a win in each Test match will earn 40 points in a three-match series. A tie will receive half of the points for a win, while a draw will receive a third of the points for a win. Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the ICC changed the WTC points system in November 2020.

New Zealand defeats India to become Test world champions, and they are no longer under the radar.

Even the English weather was unable to crush the hearts of New Zealanders once more. Two years after almost missing out on the ODI World Cup without actually losing in the final, New Zealand won their first world crown, the inaugural World Test Championship, in magnificent late-evening sunshine. On the reserve day, the sixth of the match, which featured only three-and-a-half days of actual cricket due to terrible weather, it was long past regulation closing time.

But what a game of cricket. In such a short amount of time, two exceptionally high-quality sides played in incredibly difficult batting conditions to produce a fascinating cricket match. If New Zealand was going to win, they needed to be extremely efficient, consistent, and skilled, and they did so just in time.

New Zealand needed eight wickets on the last day - the ICC guaranteed 98 overs weather permitting, whatever of the over rates - before they could bat and knock off the runs conceded plus the 32 India had at the end of day five. With meticulous preparation and execution of those strategies by a persistent attack, they were able to take a wicket every five and a half overs. A 139-run goal in 53 overs wasn't exactly easy: the previous three innings had averaged 2.35, 2.5, and 2.32 per over, respectively, and India wasn't exactly laying everything on the table. They had only achieved 44 in 17.2 overs by the time R Ashwin took off both openers. A poorer batting team may have taken a chance and handed India a window, but the old duo of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson guided them to victory with a patient yet urgent 96-run partnership in 28.3 overs.

There was no space for error or further weather interruption because the situation was so tight. When things became tough, New Zealand's thoughts may have turned to the cricket gods. To the boundary countback, all the near misses, the one hour of rain on the fifth morning that came out of nowhere (it didn't rain in many other Southampton neighbourhoods), and Rishabh Pant's dropped catch on the sixth day, which made it too close for comfort as New Zealand fought for the final wickets. India got off to a shaky start with the new ball before Ashwin injected some life into their spirits by dismissing the openers, both left-handed hitters. Devon Conway was lbw to the straighter one after Tom Latham was stumped off a crisp offbreak. Six overs generated four runs during that stretch of play, bringing the asking rate to an even three per over for the final 31 overs. It wasn't just about the asking price. If you chased too hard and lost sight of the prize, there was a good risk that a collapse would occur, allowing India to re-enter the game. New Zealand aimed to score runs more quickly without putting themselves in a position where they'd have to fight for a draw.

Under this pressure, Taylor and Williamson found the right balls. The flagging Shami, bowling his eighth over out of 23 in the innings, provided the first leeway with balls short and wide. Taylor then took Ashwin on and cleared wide mid-on. Now they had the flow in the innings, and all their experience and expertise came to the fore as they first steadied the ship and then saw it home at 6.35pm, ironically, in bright sunlight.

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