New Zealand beats Australia to finish ahead in the Test team Rankings

The New Zealand Cricket team has finished ahead of Australia in the recently released MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings. Meanwhile, the Kiwis lead their trans-Tasman neighbours on decimal points.

However, both the teams have 102 points but the Black Caps got a nod ahead with good decimal points.

ICC released the ranking after the recently concluded Test at Christchurch and Johannesburg. New Zealand now occupies the third spot while the Aussies find themselves at fourth.

New Zealand’s 1-0 series win over England and Australia’s 3-1 loss to South Africa have resulted in both teams finishing on 102 points in the team rankings. However, New Zealand are ahead by a thin margin, as they are now on 102.263 points and Australia are on 102.2 points.

As a result, the Black Caps got more rewards from the International Cricket Council at the extended cut-off date of 3 April.

The change in rankings means that New Zealand will now get a prize money of $200,000 for finishing third while Australia will have to be content with $100,000.

Meanwhile, South Africa already assured the second spot and $500,000 after taking a 2-1 lead.  The Aussies needed to win 3-0 or better to overtake South Africa while they had to avoid losing 3-1 or worse to ensure that neither New Zealand nor England could overtake them.

However, India already received the ICC Test Championship Mace and $1 million prize after their win against South Africa in Johannesburg. Meanwhile, South Africa won the series 2-1.

Previously, in 2017, India and South Africa finished in similar positions.

Here is the ranking:

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