ICC World Test Championship Final: Joint Winners To Be Crowned In Case Of A Draw Or Tie

On Friday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the playing conditions of the ICC World Test Championship final, set to take place on the 18th of June. India and New Zealand will lock horns in the decider in Southampton to claim the ultimate prize of Test cricket. The apex body of the sport declared that there would be joint winners if the Test ends in a draw or tie.

With rain a significant factor in England, the playing conditions have confirmed that both teams would be crowned joint winners if the Test ends in a tie or draw. Along with that, there exists an allocation of a reserve day to compensate for any lost time during the regular days of the final – slated to occur from the 18th to the 22nd of June. June 23 has been set aside as the reserve day.

An ICC’s statement said that the reserve day is to ensure full five days of play and would come into the equation if lost playing time cannot be recovered through the standard provisions of making up lost time each day. Furthermore, in any case, there exists no additional day’s play if a positive result does not come out even after five days and that the fixture will go down as a draw.

“The reserve day has been scheduled to ensure five full days of play, and it will only be used if lost playing time cannot be recovered through the normal provisions of making up lost time each day. There will be no additional day’s play if a positive result is not achieved after five full days of play and the match will be declared a draw in such a scenario,” a statement said as quoted by The Outlook.

Other rules for the ICC World Test Championship final:

The Grade 1 Dukes ball would be used for the match and the decider will see the implementation of the rules that came into effect in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka:

Short Runs – The Third Umpire will automatically review any call of a ‘short run’ by the On-field Umpire and communicate the decision to the On-field Umpire prior to the next ball being bowled.

Player Reviews – The fielding captain or the dismissed batsman may confirm with the Umpire whether a genuine attempt has been made to play the ball prior to deciding whether to initiate a player review for LBW.

DRS Reviews – For LBW reviews, the height margin of the wicket zone has been lifted to the top of the stumps to ensure the same Umpire’s call margin around the stumps for both height and width.

Also Read: ICC World Test Championship Final: 3 Shocking Decisions We Can Expect From Virat Kohli