India’s 10-wicket defeat in the pink-ball Test against Australia in Adelaide on Sunday pushed them down to number three in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings, which will decide the two finalists to play in the summit clash next year in June at Lord’s.
India could score just 180 in their first innings and then were left behind by 157 runs as the Aussies notched up 337 in reply, thanks to Travis Head’s attacking 140 off 141 balls.
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The visitors folded up for 175 in their second innings, leaving the hosts to score just 19 for victory, which Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney did with ease to level the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy at 1-1.
Teams that finish in the top two of the WTC standings at the end of the 2023-25 cycle will qualify for the final. But South Africa (PCT 59.26) have leapt ahead of India (PCT 57.29) in that race to be at number two now, behind Australia (PCT 60.71) who move to the top spot. India, who led the table before the start of the Adelaide Test, have slipped two spots to be at the third position.
Here’s a look at the WTC Standings after Australia’s win over India in the pink-ball Test:
The Indian team needs to win four of the five Tests in Australia to outrightly qualify for the WTC final. But the task has become stiffer, with the visitors now required to win all three remaining Tests to accomplish that.
The third Test begins in Brisbane from December 14.
