The World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final race is truly alive. The next few weeks will be crucial for teams fighting out to get a ticket to the final which will begin at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in London on June 11. While India, South Africa and Australia have emerged as top contenders, Sri Lanka and New Zealand have a chance to make it too.
Here's how each team can qualify for the WTC final -
India
Before the Perth Test, India needed to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 4-0 to cement their berth in third consecutive WTC final. However, now, they can make it to the final with final scoreline of the series reading 4-1, 4-0 and 3-0. This means India can either afford a loss or one to two draws in the series to qualify for the final without any issues. The maximum win percentage India can achieve is 69.29.
However, if they lost two to three Tests, they will have to depend on the outcomes of other games to go in their favour. If India lose the BGT 2023-25 2-3, they will hope New Zealand lose or draw the series against England, South Africa draw their home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan whereas Australia and Sri Lanka's two-Test series ends in a 0-0 draw.
Australia
Australia slipped from top to third position last week. The maximum percentage they can achieve by winning their remainder of six Tests will be 71.02. They need four wins a draw to comfortably make into the WTC final. Even if they lose the series 3-2 to India, they can manage to reach the final with a cleansweep in Sri Lanka. However, they would hope Pakistan do them a favour by beating South Africa.
South Africa
Despite gifting an away series to Sri Lanka by holding back their senior players, South Africa are in a good position to reach their maiden WTC final considering their remaining three Tests are at home. After the commanding win over Sri Lanka in the first Test, they need to complete a cleansweep. They will be able to reach 69.44 win percentage in that case. If they lose one of these Tests, they will have a win percentage of 61.11 and still have a fair chance to reach the final.
New Zealand
New Zealand's chances of making it to the final are very slim after the eight-wicket loss to Ben Stokes' England. If they win remaining two Tests, they can reach 57.14. They will need a number of games going their way to make it to their second final. Currently, they have a win percentage of 50.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka lost the first Test of the tour to South Africa but can qualify for the final if they win their remaining three Tests. If they manage to beat South Africa in second Test, they will have conditions at home in favour against the mighty Australians in the two-Test series. With three consecutive wins, they can reach a win percentage of 61.54. This means that their next Test against the Proteas will be a must-win encounter.
