Australia finish marginally behind table-toppers SA on WTC chart

Australia finished marginally behind table-toppers South Africa on the World Test Championship (2023-25) chart following their clean sweep of the two-match series against Sri Lanka on Sunday.

South Africa, on 69.44 percentage points, were the first team to secure a place in the WTC final, while Australia, who finished their engagements on 67.54 percentage points, had cemented the other spot following their 3-1 drubbing of India in the five-match Border-Gavaskar series at home.

The two teams will meet in the WTC Final at Lord's from June 11.

“Australia's triumph in the Border-Gavaskar series against India helped them make their second consecutive World Test Championship Final, and a 2-0 series win against Sri Lanka helped them solidify the No.2 position on the table,” said ICC in a release.

Australia thrashed Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle by an innings and 242 runs, and inflicted another crushing nine-wicket defeat in the second match at the same venue on Sunday.

India, who were in the race for a long time, bowed out following their defeat in the BGT to finish third on the table with 50 percentage points.

India, the two-time WTC finalists, won nine, lost eight and drew two games in the 19 Tests they played in the cycle. Rohit Sharma's side was also deducted two points during the cycle.

Pakistan finished ninth and last in the cycle with 27.98 percentage points.