India will take on Australia in this summer’s World Test Championship final at the Kia Oval after Sri Lanka fell out of the reckoning in dramatic fashion.
Sri Lanka, led by former England head coach Chris Silverwood, needed a 2-0 series win over New Zealand to maintain their push but lost a nerve-shredding first Test in Christchurch off the final delivery of the match.
A scrambled bye, completed by Kane Williamson just before the stumps were thrown down, settled the result in the Black Caps’ favour and ended Sri Lanka’s underdog push to finish second in the WTC table.
🇳🇿😅 New Zealand won by the BAREST of margins again!
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈🏀 (@SportingLifeFC) March 13, 2023
😲 They needed eight runs off the last over to beat Sri Lanka and after getting seven of them, this happened on the final ball 👇pic.twitter.com/PE7v424CZy
One of the craziest test match in the history - New Zealand vs Sri Lanka. pic.twitter.com/h4AVOcERwy
— Cricket is Love ❤ (@cricketfan__) March 13, 2023
The best they can now hope for is a points percentage of 56, with India guaranteed a minimum of 57. India finished as runners-up in the inaugural WTC final at the Ageas Bowl in 2021, defeated by New Zealand.
Australia had already secured their spot in the final, which will run from June 7-11.
The Kiwis have endured a poor run in the tournament’s second iteration, sitting second-bottom in eighth place with a points percentage of 33.33. England, who have played the most games in the two-year qualifying period with 22, lie fifth on 46.97.
New Zealand's win in the first Test has knocked out the possibility of Sri Lanka playing the WTC Final.
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) March 13, 2023
Australia and India have qualified for the WTC Final, set to be played at 'The Oval' #NewZealand #KaneWilliamson #NZvsSL pic.twitter.com/vkZnAtcEDN
What an amazing Commentary on New Zealand's historic Test win vs Sri Lanka - Kane Williamson done it for NZ. pic.twitter.com/bRzfayLXoU
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) March 13, 2023
