<p>India on Monday qualified for the prestigious World Test Championship (WTC) final after New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by two wickets in a thrilling last-ball finish in the Christchurch game.</p>.<p>India will play Australia in the WTC final at The Oval from June 7.</p>.<p>This is India's second successive entry into the WTC final, with the previous one coming in the inaugural cycle in 2021, where they lost to New Zealand.</p>.<p>With the Dimuth Karunaratne-led side's only shot at the WTC final berth hinging on a 2-0 victory against the Kiwis in the away series, the loss for the Islanders ended their hopes of securing a spot.</p>.<p>Australia was the first team to secure a WTC final berth after humbling India by nine wickets in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series at Indore, leaving the hosts praying for a favourable result in the first Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka.</p>.<p>The result in Christchurch took the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Ahmedabad out of the equation as earlier India had to win the contest to secure the WTC final spot.</p>.<p>Australia are sitting atop the WTC table with 68.52 percentage points (PCT).</p>.<p>Had Sri Lanka won the Test on Monday and strived for victory in the second match at Wellington, their PCT would have jumped from 53.33 to 61.11 -- higher than India's 60.29 before the start of the fourth Test in Ahmedabad.</p>.<p>In order to take all the scenarios out of the equation, India had to win the Ahmedabad Test -- which would have taken their PCT to 62.5 -- and retain their second position on the WTC table.</p>.<p>But with New Zealand acing a record chase of 285 runs on Monday, thanks to former captain Kane Williamson's unbeaten 121, Sri Lanka were left ruing their chances.</p>
<p>India on Monday qualified for the prestigious World Test Championship (WTC) final after New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by two wickets in a thrilling last-ball finish in the Christchurch game.</p>.<p>India will play Australia in the WTC final at The Oval from June 7.</p>.<p>This is India's second successive entry into the WTC final, with the previous one coming in the inaugural cycle in 2021, where they lost to New Zealand.</p>.<p>With the Dimuth Karunaratne-led side's only shot at the WTC final berth hinging on a 2-0 victory against the Kiwis in the away series, the loss for the Islanders ended their hopes of securing a spot.</p>.<p>Australia was the first team to secure a WTC final berth after humbling India by nine wickets in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series at Indore, leaving the hosts praying for a favourable result in the first Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka.</p>.<p>The result in Christchurch took the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Ahmedabad out of the equation as earlier India had to win the contest to secure the WTC final spot.</p>.<p>Australia are sitting atop the WTC table with 68.52 percentage points (PCT).</p>.<p>Had Sri Lanka won the Test on Monday and strived for victory in the second match at Wellington, their PCT would have jumped from 53.33 to 61.11 -- higher than India's 60.29 before the start of the fourth Test in Ahmedabad.</p>.<p>In order to take all the scenarios out of the equation, India had to win the Ahmedabad Test -- which would have taken their PCT to 62.5 -- and retain their second position on the WTC table.</p>.<p>But with New Zealand acing a record chase of 285 runs on Monday, thanks to former captain Kane Williamson's unbeaten 121, Sri Lanka were left ruing their chances.</p>