The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced India and New Zealand will be named joint winners in case of a draw or a tie in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, starting 18 June in Southampton. There will also be an additional reserve day to make up for any lost time over the five days.
‘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,’ ICC stated. ‘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.’
The decision to extend the Test match to the reserve day will lie solely with the match referee. It will be taken at the start of the final hour on Day 5: ‘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 WTC final will be played with Grade 1 Dukes balls. The match will see the implementation of changes to international playing conditions.
The third umpire will directly review any call of a short run by the on-field umpire before the next ball is bowled.
The fielding captain or the dismissed batter may confirm with the on-field umpire whether a genuine attempt has been made to play the ball before deciding to go upstairs for a player review for LBW.
There will also have an enhanced height margin for LBW referrals.