The World Test Championship (WTC) is a biennial international cricket competition for the top test nations, organized by the International Cricket Council. The winner of the WTC is awarded the Test Mace.
The 2024-25 cycle of the WTC began with the Ashes series and ended with South Africa securing the title after defeating Australia in the final at Lord’s. This cycle has also been the first in which a final play-off match has taken place between the top two teams following the conclusion of the regular season.
Winning the title has put the Proteas firmly in the spotlight and has laid to rest the ghosts of heartbreaking losses on big ICC stages that have haunted them for decades. It has also boosted their mindset ahead of their home ODI World Cup in 2027.
In the first test against the West Indies, India dominated with both bat and ball to crush the visitors by an innings and 142 runs inside three days in Delhi. The Shubman Gill-led side were backed by centuries from KL Rahul (100), Dhruv Jurel (125) and Ravindra Jadeja (104*) as they reached 445-8 in their first innings. The bowlers were just as dominant, with Mohammad Siraj grabbing four wickets in each innings and Kagiso Rabada taking a career-best nine-for.
The WTC is a league format rather than a full round-robin tournament, meaning each team plays six of the other eight teams once. The teams are ranked based on their percentage of points won, with the top two teams advancing to the final in Lord’s. A win is worth 12 points, a draw is worth 4 points and a tie is worth 6 points. A team will have points deducted for each over they are behind the required rate in a test.