Kolkata: A draw or a tie in the ICC World Test Championship Final, featuring India and New Zealand at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton in June, will see both teams crowned as joint winners. The announcement came on Friday when the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the playing conditions for the match between June 18-22.
There will be a Reserve Day to make up for any lost time during the regular days of the Final – June 23 to ensure that full five days of action is completed. Both these decisions were taken in June 2018 prior to the start of the ICC World Test Championship.
The Reserve Day will only be used if lost playing time cannot be recovered through the normal provisions of making up lost time each day. There will be no additional day’s play if a decision is not achieved after five full days of play and the match will be declared a draw in such a scenario.
In the event of time being lost during the match, the ICC Match Referee will regularly update the teams and media about the way in which the Reserve Day may be used. The final decision on whether the Reserve Day needs to be used will be announced at the scheduled start of the last hour on the fifth day.
The match will, meanwhile, be played using Grade 1 Dukes cricket balls - and this will be good news for the fast bowlers of both teams as it’s pronounced seam is known to assist movement both in the air and off the pitch.
The final will also see the implementation of the following changes to international playing conditions that came into effect with the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka:
Short Runs: The Third Umpire will automatically review any call of a ‘short run’ by the On-field Umpire and communicate the decision to the On-field Umpire prior to the next ball being bowled.
Player Reviews: The fielding captain or the dismissed batsman may confirm with the Umpire whether a genuine attempt has been made to play the ball prior to deciding whether to initiate a player review for LBW.
DRS Reviews: For LBW reviews, the height margin of the Wicket Zone has been lifted to the top of the stumps to ensure the same Umpire’s Call margin around the stumps for both height and width.
