Picture Credit: Twitter/@imkohli
The ICC World Test Championship final is less than 24 hours away. The two finalists India and New Zealand have had their time to prepare and now it’s for the final showdown between what one has got to believe are the two best teams in the world over the 2-year cycle. While all eyes will be on the English weather conditions, a lot will also depend on the pitch and so SportsTiger has brought every bit of update from the Ageas Bowl, Southampton for you.
The 22-yards for this match has an unmistakable greenish tinge to it which might not only be good news for the bowlers and may even influence the final XI. The pitch looks like a nightmare for batters, to say the least, especially if one is an opener and has to face the new ball against the best bowlers in the world. Will that mean India will play just one between R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and go for both Mohammad Siraj and Ishant Sharma? Well, that may well be the case.
Check out the surface right here:
Weather
The weather means more reasons to worry for the batters. It’s not going to be a bright sunny day at Southampton tomorrow if the weather predictions are to be believed. From what one can see at Accuweather, a temperature around 16-17 Degree Celsius is expected with a rain probability of 64% and a cloud cover of 94%. Thus, the captain winning the toss might just be prompted to bowl first and make use of the conditions to get the opposition out for a low score. It should also be noted that there is a reserve day for the summit clash to make up for any time lost during the game.
Here are the timings announced for the World Test Championship final
Toss: 2:30 pm (IST)
First ball: 3 pm (IST)
Lunch: 5 pm (IST)
Tea: 7:40 pm (IST)
Stumps: 10:00 pm (IST)