Hyderabad: South Africa defeated Sri Lanka in the second match of the bilateral series between the two nations and sealed the series. Ryan Rickelton and Kyle Verreynne were the centurions for the South African side while Keshav Maharaj and Dane Patterson shined with the ball taking seven wickets each. Although Sri Lanka were trailing only by 30 runs after the first innings, their batters faltered in the second innings which resulted in a 109-run loss for them.
Now, with the victory, South Africa have climbed to the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) standings toppling Australia. This has eliminated Sri Lanka from the race to qualify for the WTC final and now India, South Africa and Australia are only in the race to qualification.
Australia's reign at the top of the #WTC25 standings was short-lived as new leaders emerge after South Africa's whitewash of Sri Lanka 👀 #SAvSL | Details 👇
— ICC (@ICC) December 9, 2024
India’s WTC Final qualification scenarios
With South Africa winning against Sri Lanka in the second Test, India’s road ahead has become tough. South Africa are in the best position to book a berth in the final as only one more win against Pakistan in the upcoming two-match Test series will be good enough.
To keep their fate in their own hands, India need to win at least two and draw one fixture out of the three remaining matches against Australia. Such a scoreline will provide them insurance against a 2-0 win for Australia in Sri Lanka. In the case, India secures a 2-1 series win in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Australia can still go ahead of the Men In Blue if they beat Sri Lanka 2-0.
For the scenario in which the India vs Australia series ends in a 2-2 scoreline and both the Test matches between Australia and Sri Lanka end in a tie, it will be a tight situation. Both the teams will be then tied on a point percentage of 55.26. India will be advancing on the basis of more series wins than Australia (three for India to Australia's two). However, if Australia earns more than eight points in Sri Lanka, they will finish ahead of India.
A series defeat against Australia would straight up end India’s hopes of booking a spot in the WTC Final.
