ICC World Test Championship 2023 Final: Australia Beat India — Travis Head's 163 at The Oval
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final was played at The Oval, London from 7–11 June 2023. Australia, captained by Pat Cummins, beat India by 209 runs. Australia batted first and scored 469; Travis Head scored 163 from 174 balls. India were bowled out for 296 and 234. Nathan Lyon took 8 wickets across the match; Cameron Green took 4 wickets. Australia became the first team to win both the WTC title (2023) and the ICC Cricket World Cup (2023) in the same calendar year.
The ICC World Test Championship 2023 final was played at The Oval, London from 7–11 June 2023. Australia entered as the number-one-ranked Test team; India entered having won 9 of their 10 qualifying matches. Australia, captained by Pat Cummins, won by 209 runs — Australia's first WTC title.
Travis Head: 163 from 174 Balls
Australia batted first and were in difficulty at 76/3 when Travis Head came in. He scored 163 from 174 balls with 17 fours and 4 sixes — batting with Steve Smith (121), adding 285 for the 4th wicket. Australia declared at 469. India's first innings: 296 all out (Shubman Gill 65, Rohit 43); lead of 173. Australia declared their second innings at 270/8, setting India 444 to win in 4 sessions. India were bowled out for 234 — Nathan Lyon took 4/89 across the innings (8 wickets in the match), and Cameron Green took 4 wickets.
The WTC Format
The ICC World Test Championship was introduced in 2019 with a two-year cycle: teams earn points from Test series, and the top two in the standings after the cycle play the final. The 2021 final was won by New Zealand (beat India by 8 wickets at Southampton). The 2023 final was won by Australia at The Oval. The 2025 final was contested by South Africa and Australia at Lord's. The WTC has reinvigorated the Test calendar by giving standalone series context as qualification matches.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ICC World Test Championship format, and how does the points system determine which two teams play the final?
The WTC format: the ICC introduced the World Test Championship in 2019 to provide context for Test series beyond bilateral rankings. The cycle: in each two-year WTC cycle (e.g., 2021–2023), each of the 9 Test-playing nations plays a minimum of 6 series (3 home, 3 away). Series points are allocated (12 points per Test, distributed across a series based on results). The standings: at the end of the two-year cycle, the top two teams in the standings table play a 5-day final, scheduled for a neutral venue in England (The Oval and Southampton have been used). The percentage points (PCT) system: since different teams play different numbers of Tests in a cycle (due to bilateral scheduling), the WTC uses PCT (points won as a percentage of maximum available) rather than raw points to rank teams. This ensures a team that played 10 series and won 8 is not penalised vs a team that played 6 and won 5. The 2023 cycle: Australia accumulated 68.5 PCT (highest); India 58.8 PCT (second). Both qualified for the final at The Oval. The analytical assessment: the WTC is the first ICC structure to give all Test series tournament context — a 2-Test series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka now contributes WTC points, creating a structural incentive to invest in performance. Critics argue it still does not solve the bilateral scheduling problem (some teams play more Tests than others), but the PCT system partially addresses this. The 2025 final: South Africa vs Australia at Lord's — South Africa qualifying for the first time.