Sri Lanka’s failure to defeat New Zealand in the opening Test of their two-match series immediately qualified India for the World Test Championship final.
The Indian cricket team officially qualified for the World Test Championship (WTC) final, booking the second spot after Australia had become the first team to seal their progression. India’s qualification came as a result of New Zealand’s triumph over Sri Lanka in the first Test at Christchurch. Despite a rain delay, the Kiwis successfully chased down the target of 285 runs on Day 5. Sri Lanka needed to win both their Tests against New Zealand to remain in the WTC final hunt but they couldn’t get the better of the hosts in the opener on Monday.
Kane Williamson scored the winning runs as New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by a narrow margin of two wickets. The final few overs were filled with epic drama as New Zealand lost a ton of victims. Williamson, however, overcame his nerves to secure a 1-0 series victory and disqualify Sri Lanka from the WTC championship competition.
On the other hand, India was also preoccupied with their Test matchup with Australia, playing the Steve Smith-led team in Ahmedabad on Day 5 of the 4th Test. As Sri Lanka failed to defeat New Zealand in the first match, India needed to defeat the Australians in order to guarantee a place in the Test championship final.
After Day 4’s play ended, it appeared that the New Zealand vs. Sri Lanka Test would end in a victory, but just as the fifth day of play was about to begin, it began to deluge rain. With a minimum of 53 overs and no break guaranteed, the game eventually resumed as the sun emerged.
Daryl Mitchell added a quick-fire 81 off 86 balls to Kane Williamson’s 27th Test century to help the Kiwis overtake Sri Lanka’s total and take a 1-0 series lead. Kane Williamson topped the Kiwis’ scoring charts with a score of 107.
