A stalemate in a five-day match has become uncommon at a time when four-day Test matches have become a reality; in fact, England and Zimbabwe played the first-ever four-day Test last month, which England won. However, it can occasionally be challenging to choose a clear victor in a given amount of time when the location is England, particularly the Lord's, where the weather may be more deceptive than the opposing bowlers. The legendary Lord's will host the World Test Championship final between Australia and England this time around.

Given the quality of the bowling attacks that South Africa and Australia have, it is highly probable that the WTC final will produce a clear winner. Who will be declared the victor of the WTC final, though, if the match ends in a draw because of the tenacity of the batters or weather delays and Pat Cummins or Kagiso Rabada's side is unable to win 20 wickets?

To put it simply, there will be shared victors. If the WTC championship game ends in a tie, the Test mace will be shared by Australia captain Pat Cummins and South Africa captain Temba Bavuma. Despite a grueling two-year struggle to get to the summit match, there was a lot of discussion among fans and pundits about a best-of-three final to determine the victor of the WTC, but the ICC has maintained the one final format. And there is a realistic chance that the trophy might be split up right now.

Does that imply that the WTC championship game may really be forced to a tie by bad weather? It can, but the ICC has made an effort to reduce its impact by maintaining a reserve day. If time has been lost to inclement weather over the five days and they have been unable to make up for it in those five days, and no conclusion has been reached by the end of the fifth day, the sixth day, i.e., the reserve day, will take effect.

When rain interfered with the first few days of the inaugural edition of the WTC final between India and New Zealand in 2021, the reserve day was utilized to produce a conclusion.

If the game ends in a tie without any weather interruptions, will the backup day be utilized? No! If the Test match concludes in a tie with no time lost, the reserve day is not meant to compel a conclusion. It will only be used if time is lost and the game officials are unable to make up for it during the course of five days.

How likely is it to rain during the WTC final?

The WTC championship game will take place between June 11 and 15. It is unlikely that there will be any weather-related disruptions on the first day. Although the skies will remain cloudy, the possibility of rain is minimal, but it may be problematic on Days 2 and 3. There may be rainfall on Thursday and Friday before the weather improves over the weekend.

The WTC championship has any further rule modifications?

No. The WTC final is subject to the same regulations as a typical Test match. The WTC final will be played in England using the Duke's ball, similar to the previous two iterations, as opposed to the Kookaburra ball, which is used in both South Africa and Australia.

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