Published 12:16 IST, January 9th 2023
ICC World Test Championship: India's WTC Final qualification scenario after AUS vs SA draw
South Africa have lost the three-match series 2-0 and have given Australia a huge chance of competing in the final of the World Test Championship.
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South Africa on Friday managed to pull off a draw in the third and final Test against Australia in Sydney. Australia needed 14 wickets on Day 5 to hand a series clean sweep to the Proteas but the visitors played the game with ease to secure a draw in the match. The rain-curtailed match saw the Pat Cummins-led side score a mammoth 475/4 and declare in the first innings. Usman Khawaja smashed an unbeaten 195 runs to help Australia give a beating to South African bowlers. Steve Smith poured salt on the South African wounds with a century of his own.
Australia then managed to restrict South Africa to 149/6 in 50 overs on Day 4 of the match. Keshav Maharaj along with Simon Harmer forged an 80-run partnership to deny Australians a chance to force a follow-on early. However, the home side succeeded in picking four more wickets to force the follow-on on Dean Elgar's team. But South Africa maintained their cool and fend Australia off with a second-innings score of 106/2 at stumps on the final day. With this, South Africa lost the three-match series 2-0 and gave Australia a huge chance of competing in the final of the World Test Championship.
ICC World Test Championship 2021-23: Standings
| POS | Team | W | L | D | PCT(%) | PTS | SER | PEN |
| 1 | Australia | 10 | 1 | 4 | 75.56 | 136 | 5 | 0 |
| 2 | India | 8 | 4 | 2 | 58.93 | 99 | 5 | -5 |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 5 | 4 | 1 | 53.33 | 64 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | South Africa | 6 | 6 | 1 | 48.72 | 76 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | England | 10 | 8 | 4 | 46.97 | 124 | 6 | -12 |
| 6 | West Indies | 4 | 5 | 2 | 40.91 | 54 | 5 | -2 |
| 7 | Pakistan | 4 | 6 | 4 | 38.1 | 64 | 6 | 0 |
| 8 | New Zealand | 2 | 6 | 3 | 27.27 | 36 | 5 | 0 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 1 | 10 | 1 | 11.11 | 16 | 6 | 0 |
India's chances of qualifying for the WTC final
- India would need to win at least three of their four planned home Test matches against Australia in February-March to advance to the coveted tournament's final.
- India will need to do well in the Border-Gavaskar series if they want to maintain their standing. In addition to New Zealand, India would like to see them succeed in their two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
- India might advance to the WTC final with even a 2-0 series victory over Australia, but they will require New Zealand to defeat Sri Lanka in one of the following Test series games.
- If Sri Lanka defeats New Zealand 2-0, it will be bad for India if they don't win their three games against Australia.
- If India loses the Test series against Australia at home, its prospects of competing in the WTC final are over. Although India has a better record because they have never suffered a WTC home loss.
Image: AP
17:41 IST, January 8th 2023