India is out of the WTC final; Defending champions Australia will play South Africa at Lord’s.
After facing defeat in SCG, team India exits from the World Test Championship (WTC) final contention, Australia will contest South Africa in the final from June 11 to 15 at Lord’s. Australia Cricket Team defeated India by six wickets in the final Test of BGT 2024-25 at SCG to conquer the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years, safeguarding its place in the WTC 2023-2025 final for the second time. Australia defeated India in the BGT 2023-24 by 3-1.
On the other hand, South Africa who qualified for the WTC final for the first time, became the first team to qualify for the WTC final 2025 by defeating Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test in Centurion. In the ongoing WTC cycle, they recorded series wins against the West Indies, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka drew a series with India at home, and lost to New Zealand. South Africa capped their maiden WTC final after being a runner-up in both men’s and women’s T20 World Cup.
Australia still has two games left in the current cycle- both against Sri Lanka which will be played later this month. Australia’s contest with Sri Lanka is a dead rubber as even a 0-2 loss would not be enough for India or Sri Lanka to displace them in the top two on the WTC table. The only way to replace the Kangaroos is if they conceded eight penalty points against Sri Lanka in two matches, which is next to impossible.
Proteas are looking excited to play their first-ever WTC final; South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma said in an interview, “To play the World Test Championship final at Lord’s is a dream come true for any cricketer. It’s a huge occasion, and we can’t wait to take it all in.”
World Test Championship 2023-25 Points Table after Australia-India BGT series
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Deduction | Points | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 88 | 66.67 |
| Australia | 17 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 130 | 63.73 |
| India | 19 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 114 | 50 |
| New Zealand | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 81 | 48.21 |
| Sri Lanka | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 60 | 45.45 |
| England | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 22 | 114 | 43.18 |
| Bangladesh | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 45 | 31.25 |
| Pakistan | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 40 | 30.3 |
| West Indies | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 32 | 24.24 |
