On December 6, Friday, the New Zealand cricket team would like to stage a comeback after suffering an astonishing 8-wicket defeat against England in the ongoing three-match Test series at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch, last week. Stokes led the team against New Zealand in the second Test match, starting Friday at Basin Reserve, Wellington. Still alive in the race to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final, Kiwis needed nothing less than a win in the second match of the bilateral series to keep their chances of finishing among the top two at the ongoing WTC 2023-25 points table alive—to book a place in the WTC 2025 final, scheduled to take place at The Lord’s in June next year.
If Kiwis manage to take the final two Tests against England, they will finish the WTC 2023-25 cycle with a PCT% of 55.36. Three sides-India, South Africa, and Australia-have so far crossed the 55.36 PCT% mark, but because they at least have three Tests to play, much can change in the coming days
New Zealand will still have a realistic chance of finishing in the top two if they win these next two Tests. But lose or draw either of the remaining two Tests, and their hopes of making it to the WTC 2025 final will die. In the case of one draw and one win, New Zealand can’t finish with more than 50.60 PCT%, and so, in this scenario, even with one win in the next three Tests, India and South Africa will be assured of finishing above New Zealand in the WTC 2023-25 points table.
Simultaneously, it is also true that winning both the remaining Tests will not assure New Zealand a place in the WTC 2025 final, but will be available for selection if South Africa and Sri Lanka end up losing at least 2 of their remaining 3 Tests and Australia manages to beat India in 3 of their last 4 Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
In such a situation, India, South Africa, and Sri Lanka can’t finish with more than 53.51, 52.78, and 46.15 PCT%, respectively.
