World Test Championship (WTC) in numbers: leading run-scorers, most wickets, hat-tricks and more
Despite Covid-19 issues, 58 Test matches were played over 23 series, at the end of which India and New Zealand, with the highest points percentages of 72.2 and 70.0, have reached the final. A look at the performances of all the teams and players involved from August 2019 to May 2021.
Published : Jun 17, 2021 13:43 IST
The World Test Championship (WTC) is a league competition for Test cricket conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It began on August 1, 2019, with the start of the Ashes series with the Edgbaston Test match in Birmingham.
The WTC was initially scheduled for 2013. It was to replace the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, but had to be postponed due to the ICC’s commitments to its broadcaster and sponsors. Meanwhile, the Champions Trophy was held as usual that year. The ICC then hoped to convince all its full members to switch to a playoff competition between the top four Test teams as per the ICC Test rankings, which was rescheduled for June 2017, with a world Test championship to take place in India in February-March 2021.
Then, in October 2017, the ICC announced that a Test league had been agreed upon by its members. It would involve the top nine teams playing series over two years with the top two qualifying for a world Test league championship final. The first ICC World Test Championship thus began just after the 2019 50-over Cricket World Cup.
Despite Covid-19 issues, 58 Test matches were played over 23 series, at the end of which India and New Zealand, with the highest points percentages of 72.2 and 70.0, respectively, have earned the right to contest the final in Southampton from June 18-22, 2021.
A look at the performances of all the teams and players involved from August 2019 to May 2021.
Series-by-series results
| Series No. | Home team | Visiting team | Month/Year | Tests | Won by home team | Won by visiting team | Drawn | Series result |
| 1 | England | Australia | August-September 2019 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Shared |
| 2 | Sri Lanka | New Zealand | August 2019 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Shared | |
| 3 | West Indies | India | August-September 2019 | 2 | 2 | India+ | ||
| 4 | India | South Africa | October 2019 | 3 | 3 | India | ||
| 5 | India | Bangladesh | November 2019 | 2 | 2 | India | ||
| 6 | Australia | Pakistan | November-December 2019 | 2 | 2 | Australia | ||
| 7 | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | December 2019 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Pakistan | |
| 8 | Australia | New Zealand | December 2019-January 2020 | 3 | 3 | Australia | ||
| 9 | South Africa | England | December 2019-January 2020 | 4 | 1 | 3 | England+ | |
| 10 | Pakistan | Bangladesh | February 2020 | 1 | 1 | Pakistan | ||
| 11 | New Zealand | India | February-March 2020 | 2 | 2 | New Zealand | ||
| 12 | England | West Indies | July 2020 | 3 | 2 | 1 | England | |
| 13 | England | Pakistan | August 2020 | 3 | 1 | 2 | England | |
| 14 | New Zealand | West Indies | December 2020 | 2 | 2 | New Zealand | ||
| 15 | Australia | India | December 2020-January 2021 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | India+ |
| 16 | New Zealand | Pakistan | December 2020-January 2021 | 2 | 2 | New Zealand | ||
| 17 | South Africa | Sri Lanka | December 2020-January 2021 | 2 | 2 | South Africa | ||
| 18 | Sri Lanka | England | January 2021 | 2 | 2 | England+ | ||
| 19 | Pakistan | South Africa | January-February 2021 | 2 | 2 | Pakistan | ||
| 20 | Bangladesh | West Indies | February 2021 | 2 | 2 | West Indies+ | ||
| 21 | India | England | February-March 2021 | 4 | 3 | 1 | India | |
| 22 | West Indies | Sri Lanka | March-April 2021 | 2 | 2 | Shared | ||
| 23 | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | April-May 2021 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Sri Lanka | |
| Overall | 58 | 33 | 17 | 8 |
+ Away series victories.
RELATED|
ALSO READ | Rishabh Pant, an important man in WTC final
Note: India and England won two away Test series each, while the West Indies won one.
Match and series results summary
| Tests | Series | |||||||||
| Team | Points | Points percentage | Total | Won | Lost | Drawn | Won | Lost | Drawn | |
| India | 520 | 72.2 | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | |
| New Zealand | 420 | 70.0 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Australia | 332 | 69.2 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| England | 442 | 61.4 | 21 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Pakistan | 286 | 43.3 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6+ | 3 | 3 | |
| West Indies | 200 | 33.3 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| South Africa | 144 | 30.0 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Sri Lanka | 200 | 27.8 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Bangladesh | 20 | 4.8 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4+ | 4 |
+The Pakistan-Bangladesh series was a two-match series, but the teams could play only one.
Points percentage is the points earned/points available.
RELATED|
Highest individual scores
| Score | Batsman | Country | Opposition | Venue | Month/Year |
| 335* | David Warner | Australia | Pakistan | Adelaide | November 2019 |
| 267 | Zak Crawley | England | Pakistan | Southampton | August 2020 |
| 254* | Virat Kohli | India | South Africa | Pune | October 2019 |
| 251 | Kane Williamson | New Zealand | West Indies | Hamilton | December 2020 |
| 244 | Dimuth Karunaratne | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | Pallekele | April 2021 |
| 243 | Mayank Agarwal | India | Bangladesh | Indore | November 2019 |
| 238 | Kane Williamson | New Zealand | Pakistan | Christchurch | January 2021 |
| 228 | Joe Root | England | Sri Lanka | Galle | January 2021 |
| 218 | Joe Root | England | India | Chennai | February 2021 |
| 215 | Mayank Agarwal | India | South Africa | Visakhapatnam | October 2019 |
| 215 | Marnus Labuschagne | Australia | New Zealand | Sydney | January 2020 |
| 212 | Rohit Sharma | India | South Africa | Ranchi | October 2019 |
| 211 | Steve Smith | Australia | England | Manchester | September 2019 |
| 210* | Kyle Mayers | West Indies | Bangladesh | Chattogram | February 2021 |
| 199 | Faf du Plessis | South Africa | Sri Lanka | Centurion | December 2020 |
Leading run-getters
| Batsman | Country | Runs | Matches | Innings | Not-outs | Highest score | Average | Strike rate | Hundreds | Fifties |
| Marnus Labuschagne | Australia | 1,675 | 13 | 23 | 215 | 72.82 | 55.85 | 5 | 9 | |
| Joe Root | England | 1,660 | 20 | 37 | 2 | 228 | 47.42 | 54.65 | 3 | 8 |
| Steve Smith | Australia | 1,341 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 211 | 63.85 | 53.44 | 4 | 7 |
| Ben Stokes | England | 1,334 | 17 | 32 | 3 | 176 | 46.00 | 57.79 | 4 | 6 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | India | 1,095 | 17 | 28 | 3 | 115 | 43.80 | 47.25 | 3 | 6 |
| Rohit Sharma | India | 1,030 | 11 | 17 | 1 | 212 | 64.37 | 64.49 | 4 | 2 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | Sri Lanka | 999 | 10 | 18 | 244 | 55.50 | 53.33 | 4 | 4 | |
| Jos Buttler | England | 963 | 18 | 31 | 2 | 152 | 33.20 | 52.88 | 1 | 4 |
| David Warner | Australia | 948 | 12 | 22 | 2 | 335* | 47.40 | 62.40 | 3 | 1 |
| Babar Azam | Pakistan | 932 | 10 | 17 | 3 | 143 | 66.57 | 64.14 | 4 | 5 |
RELATED|
Best bowling in an innings
| Bowling figures | Bowler | Country | Opposition | Venue | Month/Year |
| 7/137 | Lasith Embuldeniya | Sri Lanka | England | Galle | January 2021 |
| 7/145 | R. Ashwin | India | South Africa | Visakhapatnam | October 2019 |
| 6/27 | Jasprit Bumrah | India | West Indies | Kingston | August 2019 |
| 6/31 | Stuart Broad | England | West Indies | Manchester | July 2020 |
| 6/38 | Axar Patel | India | England | Ahmedabad | February 2021 |
| 6/40 | James Anderson | England | Sri Lanka | Galle | January 2021 |
| 6/42 | Jason Holder | West Indies | England | Southampton | July 2020 |
| 6/45 | Jofra Archer | England | Australia | Leeds | August 2019 |
| 6/48 | Kyle Jamieson | New Zealand | Pakistan | Christchurch | January 2021 |
| 6/49 | Nathan Lyon | Australia | England | Birmingham | August 2019 |
| 6/56 | Anrich Nortje | South Africa | Sri Lanka | Johannesburg | January 2021 |
| 6/61 | R. Ashwin | India | England | Chennai | February 2021 |
| 6/62 | Jofra Archer | England | Australia | The Oval | September 2019 |
| 6/66 | Mitchell Starc | Australia | Pakistan | Adelaide | December 2019 |
| 6/92 | Praveen Jayawickrama | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | Pallekele | May 2021 |
Best bowling in a match (10-wicket hauls)
| Bowling figures | Bowler | Country | Opposition | Venue | Month/Year |
| 11/70 | Axar Patel | India | England | Ahmedabad | February 2021 |
| 11/117 | Kyle Jamieson | New Zealand | Pakistan | Christchurch | January 2021 |
| 11/178 | Praveen Jayawickrama | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | Pallekele | May 2021 |
| 10/67 | Stuart Broad | England | West Indies | Manchester | July 2020 |
| 10/114 | Hasan Ali | Pakistan | South Africa | Rawalpindi | February 2021 |
| 10/118 | Nathan Lyon | Australia | New Zealand | Sydney | January 2020 |
| 10/210 | Lasith Embuldeniya | Sri Lanka | England | Galle | January 2021 |
Hat-tricks
| Bowler (Bowling figures) | Country | Opposition | Venue | Month/Year |
| Jasprit Bumrah (6/27) | India | West Indies | Kingston | August 2019 |
| Naseem Shah (4/26) | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Rawalpindi | February 2020 |
RELATED|
Leading wicket-takers
| Bowler | Country | Wickets | Matches | Overs (Maidens) | Runs | Best bowling | Average | Strike rate | Five-wicket innings | Ten-wicket matches |
| Pat Cummins | Australia | 70 | 14 | 555.3 (158) | 1,472 | 5/28 | 21.02 | 47.61 | 1 | |
| Stuart Broad | England | 69 | 17 | 499.3 (132) | 1,386 | 6/31 | 20.08 | 43.43 | 2 | 1 |
| R. Ashwin | India | 67 | 13 | 524.4 (95) | 1,399 | 7/145 | 20.88 | 46.98 | 4 | |
| Nathan Lyon | Australia | 56 | 14 | 630 (131) | 1,757 | 6/49 | 31.37 | 67.59 | 4 | 1 |
| Tim Southee | New Zealand | 51 | 10 | 390.3 (107) | 1,054 | 5/32 | 20.66 | 45.94 | 3 | |
| Josh Hazlewood | Australia | 48 | 11 | 385.2 (108) | 986 | 5/8 | 20.54 | 48.17 | 3 | |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 44 | 10 | 340.3 (71) | 1,080 | 6/66 | 24.54 | 46.43 | 2 | |
| Jofra Archer | England | 40 | 11 | 352.5 (71) | 1,095 | 6/45 | 27.37 | 52.93 | 3 | |
| Jack Leach | England | 40 | 10 | 373.3 (60) | 1,182 | 5/122 | 29.55 | 56.02 | 1 | |
| James Anderson | England | 39 | 12 | 331.5 (109) | 761 | 6/40 | 19.51 | 51.05 | 3 | |
| Anrich Nortje | South Africa | 39 | 10 | 315.4 (53) | 1,164 | 6/56 | 29.84 | 48.56 | 3 | |
| Kyle Jamieson | New Zealand | 36 | 6 | 200.2 (70) | 478 | 6/48 | 13.27 | 33.39 | 4 | 1 |
| Mohammed Shami | India | 36 | 10 | 239.3 (56) | 712 | 5/35 | 19.77 | 39.92 | 1 | |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Pakistan | 36 | 12 | 386.4 (73) | 1,175 | 5/77 | 32.63 | 64.44 | 1 | |
| Ishant Sharma | India | 36 | 11 | 218 (55) | 625 | 5/22 | 17.36 | 36.33 | 3 |
Most successful all-rounders
| Batting | Bowling | |||||||
| Player | Country | Matches | Runs | Average | Hundreds | Wickets | Average | Five-wicket innings |
| Ben Stokes | England | 17 | 1,334 | 46.00 | 4 | 34 | 26.26 | |
| Ravindra Jadeja | India | 10 | 469 | 58.62 | 28 | 28.67 | ||
| Jason Holder | West Indies | 9 | 459 | 32.78 | 25 | 30.16 | 3 | |
| Yasir Shah | Pakistan | 10 | 335 | 23.92 | 1 | 32 | 44.21 |
Note: Stokes also claimed 25 catches.
Note: All records are updated before the start of the WTC final in Southampton.