India and New Zealand will lock horns in the final of the World Test Championship 2019-21 at Southampton from June 18. ICC confirms that India and New Zealand will be crowned joint winners of the World Test Championship if the match ends in a draw or a tie. The ICC has also announced that the WTC Final will be played using Grade 1 Duke balls. ICC has already marked one reserve day in a case of losing overs due to rain and light issues. The Test will be played with the recent changes to playing conditions which started from the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka series.
The third umpire will now review all calls of short runs by on-field umpires. He will communicate the decision to the field umpire before the next ball is bowled. There is a slight update in LBW calls as 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.
"The reserve day has been scheduled to ensure five full days of play, and it 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 positive result is not achieved after five full days of play and the match will be declared a draw in such a scenario.” states ICC.
ICC also adds, "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."
