India qualify for WTC final for 2nd successive time after New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in thriller

By India Today Sports DeskThe week-long suspense came to an end on Monday, March 13. India qualified for the World Test Championship final for the second successive time even before their final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia came to an end in Ahmedabad. India went through to the final after Sri Lanka, who were also in contention for the summit clash, lost the first of their 2-Test series in New Zealand in a thrilling finish on Monday.

India will take on Australia in the final of the WTC at the Oval in London from June 7 to 11. Australia qualified for the final after winning the 3rd Test against India in Indore earlier in the month. India needed to avoid losing more than 1 Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and hope New Zealand don’t suffer a 2-0 whitewash in their Test series at home.

New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test Day 5 Updates

As it turned out, even before India were in action on Day 5 of their Ahmedabad Test, their berth in the London final was confirmed as Sri Lanka lost the opening Test to New Zealand in a thrilling final day battle.

India, under Virat Kohli, qualified for the WTC final in 2021 and they lost to New Zealand in the summit clash. Notably, this will be second major ICC event for India in 2023 as the ODI World Cup is scheduled to be held at home in October-November.

After Australia made it to the final, only India and Sri Lanka were in the race for the WTC final in the second week of March but the islanders’ valiant fight in the Christchurch Test was not enough to keep their hopes alive.

SRI LANKA’S LOSS, INDIA’S GAIN

There was genuine interest from Indian fans in the Sri Lanka-New Zealand first Test as the islanders came up with a valiant fight in the series opener at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Sri Lanka came up with a solid batting effort in their first innings to post 355 on the board but a stunning hundred from Daryl Mitchell helped New Zealand seal an 18-run first-innings lead. Sri Lanka were in a spot of bother when they lost 4 early wickets but senior batter Angelo Matthews helped Sri Lanka set a stiff target of 285.

The first Test in Christchurch was set up for a thrilling finale even as the Ahmedabad Test, which was played on a flat surface, headed towards a draw despite India posting 571 in response to Australia’s total of 480 in the first innings.

New Zealand were in a spot of bother when they lost opener Devon Conway early on Day 4 and Sri Lana also struck early on Monday with the wicket of Tom Latham. However, a 142-run stand between Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell.

It was Mitchell who swung the momentum in favour of New Zealand, hitting 81 off just 86 balls, smashing 4 sixes and 3 boundaries.

Williamson carried on and got to his hundred as he led New Zealand chase in a thrilling final hour.

New Zealand were cruising in the final hour but Asitha Fernando removed Mitchell and Tom Blundell (3) to pull things back.