India and Australia meet again after the draw in the World Test Championship finals

India will take on Australia in the final of this summer’s Test World Championship at the Kia Oval after Sri Lanka dropped out of the race in dramatic fashion.

Sri Lanka, led by former England head coach Chris Silverwood, needed a 2-0 series win over New Zealand to keep their pressure up but lost a nerve-wracking first Test in Christchurch after the game’s final delivery.

A scrambled bye completed by Kane Williamson just before the stumps were dropped decided the result in the Black Caps’ favor and ended Sri Lanka’s underdog push to second place in the WTC table.

The best they can hope for now is a point percentage of 56, with India finishing on 58.80 with a 2-1 home win over the Australians after a 2-1 home win in Ahmedabad.

India finished second in the inaugural WTC Finals at the Ageas Bowl in 2021, defeated by New Zealand. Australia had already secured first place and a place in the final, which will be held from June 7th to 11th.

The Kiwis have had a poor run in the second iteration of the tournament and sit second from bottom with a point percentage of 33.33 in eighth place. England, who have played the most games in the two-year qualifying period at 22, are fifth at 46.97.

The fourth test between the finalists ended in a low-key manner, with the tourists losing just two wickets to end the draw on day five.

Nightwatcher Matt Kuhnemann, sent to open Sunday night, had an early exit when he was caught by Ravichandran Ashwin lbw but the top order settled on an unresponsive surface.

Travis Head (90) and Marnus Labuschagne (63) served 139 balls from 292 to prevent any chance of a positive result. Head was bowled late in the day by Axar Patel, Steve Smith joined Labuschagne to take things to the stumps at 175 for two.