Their fine run . | 10. The previous longest sequence had just four wins, a tie and a 12 draws. From 1930 to November 1952 (amid which cricket was influenced for eight years by World War II), Australia won 46 out of 70 Tests and was misplaced as it were 12. Whereas Steve Waughs side won 16 matches straight before tasting vanquish in India, it is Ricky Pontings side that came closest to coordinating the Invincibles in terms of their dominance. Bangladesh were the first to play the Proteas and were expectedly thrashed in both the Tests by innings defeats. The difference here is that the earlier one was Twenty20 Internationals and this category involves the local leagues and teams from various countries. This specific run was kickstarted by Charge Browns captaincy in the memorable inaugural Test against neighbors New Zealand and from there, Sir Don Bradman took over, leading in 15 matches till his retirement in 1948. Mushfiqur Rahim apologises to Nasum Ahmed for misbehaving on the field; fined 25% of match fees, Kohli explains why he stopped fans from booing Smith, Peter Siddle's five-for, Jake Weatherald and Alex Carey's half-centuries give Adelaide Strikers easy win, Danny Briggs and Johan Botha first players subbed out under BBL X-factor rule. Cricket is a game full of superstition, cricketers follow unbelievable stuffs and one of those is considering some stadium lucky for them and willing to play as much as possible there. Ricky Pontings Australia. He leads from the front and his fearlessattitude reflects on the other members of the team as well. Only four have gone unbeaten for more than 20 Tests and the world record for . longest unbeaten streak in test cricket It's Afghanistan. However, they've won 16 out of the 19 in the current run. Nuggets' never-seen-before history amid Nikola Jokic' triple double streak England were no match to a side in top form as Viv Richards was destructive with the bat, while the bowlers took full advantage of the conditions. Nine wins for Kohli is the most for an Asian captain going past Sanath Jayasuriya's eight wins in 2010. India . Grow your visibility across sports enthusiasts and fans. Howzat! UAE women's cricket team's incredible record of 20 games The first of two Australian sides to make this list is the one captained by Ricky Ponting who went on a 22-game unbeaten run that was spread across two and half years and began right at the end of the most famous Ashes series in memory (2005). 2023 Cricbuzz.com, Times Internet Limited . Stats - Bangladesh end jinx as New Zealand's unbeaten home run - ESPN New Zealand held on to a draw against India in a cliffhanger in the first Test in Kanpur (3:16). The group was captained by the amazing Clive Lloyd in 26 of those matches, with Sir Vivian Richards leading the side for a singular match. After being steamrolled by the West Indies in 1988, Australia embarked on this historic streak with a draw against Sri Lanka. Required fields are marked *. ; ; Is England's use of signals from the balcony a big deal? After drawing the final Ashes Test at The Oval, they would go on to dominate the Test arena unlike any other team before them in the history of the format. Two months later, Australia had to cross over the border to play New Zealand in a 3-Test series. Ravichandran Ashwin has started the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022/23 with a milestone as the off-spinner became the second fastest to complete 450 Test wickets. Sri Lanka were definitely stronger opponents than Bangladesh, but they suffered the same fate as South Africa proved that Sri Lanka were kings at home and paupers abroad, despite possessing world-class bowlers such as Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. Published Date. The Kensington Oval at Bridgetown, Barbados was another West Indian fortress that seemed impregnable for around 45 years. The first game ended in a draw but over the next 45 years, they would play 33 more games at the venue and out of those Pakistan won 18 of those. Lindsay Hassett took over the captaincy from 1949 for nine matches. One mistake and the game could go out of hand. Out of the 9 Test wins, 8 came at home while 1 came in Pakistan. Larry Gomes hit seven centuries in that unbeaten streak whereas Richards and Lloyd were consistent as ever. Sourav Gangulys India. They rewrote the record for the longest. But they fought back well in the next two Tests, winning the final Test at Sydney by an innings and 55 runs which ended West Indies winning streak. History (and analysts) includes an inclination of recollecting overwhelming Test teams the foremost: Clive Lloyds West Indies. It was thought that the Kiwis would give a tougher fight to the team but Smiths men pulled off a 4-0 win in 5 ODIs, with one game unfortunately being washed out and as there was no result, it unfortunately ended South Africas quest of winning more matches back to back. They beat South Africa 3-0 at home, West Indies 2-0 away and New Zealand 3-0 at home before this 4-0 series win. LeBron's Lakers complete biggest comeback . There were more home Tests to follow, with Zimbabwe next in line. 4 were innings victories, while two others were won by margins 202 runs and 9 wickets. His two losses in first 22 games as captain is also the joint-fewest for India, along with Sunil Gavaskar. It was a 5-Test series, but the first two Tests were drawn, increasing Australias chances of historically winning a series in the West Indies. Test Cricket - Top 10 Spinners of All Time. Bottom-placed NSW need a victory to avoid the longest winless streak in the state's history. Also Read | Top 5 Batsmen with most nineties in Test Cricket career. But do you know which team has the highest number of consecutive wins in test matches? But resurgence cannot beat the prime of a champion side, and that was the story in short of the Test series. Kiwi spearhead Trent Boult to hang his boots? The manner in which Australia played session after session showed their dominance over an incompetent side which was led by Sachin Tendulkar and only had to get the better of the captain to win the matches. The batting charts were topped by Edrich (2055 runs), DOliveira (1427 runs) and, of course, Geoffrey Boycott not distant behind (1426 runs). Not many would have anticipated South Africa bouncing back, but that is what happened as an inspired display of cricket saw them winning the 7 match series, 4-1 despite Kevin Pietersens three hundreds. Though the game has changed today and we no longer see England rule over cricket but the history recognizes the creators of the game with some prominent performances. Fortunately, this was a period where Pakistan did not have to play high-quality opposition and as a result, kept piling up facile wins one after another. To put this dominance into perspective, the team that is second on the list is South Africa. The series against Bangladesh followed, and although Bangladesh had become a much-improved side following a stellar display in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, they were no match to Pakistans steady batsmen and menacing spin attack, which included Shahid Afridi. * indicates that the sequence is ongoing The team that tops this chart is the Sialkot Stallions of the National T20 Cup that takes place in Pakistan. India v England, 2nd Test: India equal second longest unbeaten home streak Ashwin or Lyon? What's extraordinary about Australia is that they hold the second position or the join-most position as well because they repeated the feat between 26 December 2005 to 2 January 2008. A 4-wicket win wrapped up the series but Waugh and co. had no mercy for the Pakistan as the third Test was duly won at Perth, by an innings and 20 runs and a strong Pakistan team was whitewashed. READ MORE Overall, this was their 14th consecutive Test producing either a win or loss. Longest Winning Streaks in Test Cricket History - 4rabet Mohammad Nabi joins Northamptonshire for 2021 T20 Blast, England squad optimistic about Sri Lanka tour, Williamson: Playing WTC final at Lord's would be great, Henriques questions whether Chahal was a like-for-like swap for Jadeja, 'Nothing untoward' with England's off-field signals - Morgan, Migael Pretorius called up to bolster South Africa pace attack for Sri Lanka Tests, Tom Smith: 'I didn't want to be known as the widower', How Hardik Pandya turned from being an allrounder to a proper, game-changing batsman, Parthiv Patel retires: The twists and turns of a most unusual career. Fri Sep 03 2021 Enjoy this article? During the same period in 2018, India beat West Indies by an innings and 272 runs at Rajkot to record their highest margin of victory in Test cricket. The hosts did show some fight in the last Test at the Oval, but the other four matches had two innings victories and one was a 9-wicket win, followed by an 8-wicket win. Yet, Sri Lanka has to be credited for playing a good brand of cricket to hold such a record. That streak ended in the first Test at Pune, where they lost to Australia by 333 runs. What is Australia's longest winning streak at home? But they came from behind to win by 3 wickets. Where are the games? Besides, Darren Lehmann was banned and Michael Bevan was injured. longest unbeaten streak in test cricket - familyservicescc.org After Australia won the toss and put on 471 on the board, they bundled out West Indies for 163 in the first innings and 253 in the second as they won by an innings and 55 runs. Most consecutive Test matches without defeat - Sportskeeda 14th cricketer to reach the Test all-round feat of 2500 runs and 250 wickets in Test cricket. They went on to beat South Africa away from home and won four consecutive matches against England and the series before losing the final match at Melbourne, which ended their 25-game unbeaten streak that comprised of 20 wins (9 away from home) and six consecutive Test series wins and a streak of five consecutive Test wins on three different occasions. And presently Virat Kohlis India. Here are the most number of Test and ODI wins on the trot ever. In the summer of 2001, India toured Sri Lanka for a tri-series and 3 Test matches. In 1955 and 1986 they went nine games without defeat. Out of those games, they won 11 of them and drew the rest. Medvedev will now face . 419 - Test wickets for R Ashwin. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. West Indies were unbeaten in 27 Tests across three years, during which time they beat India 2-0 at home and 3-0 away from home, beat Australia home and away and whitewashed England 5-0 in England, which was a sign of their complete dominance irrespective of the conditions on offer. The team's poor performance was compounded by the abandonment . Stokes 'blessed' to have played in New Zealand-England classic and has It has to be said that the ICC and the Sri Lankan cricket board did a favour to the team when it came to just registering victories at whatever cost. The domination was so malignant that there were some two ten-wicket wins, on four occasions they won the match with an innings in hand, while on three occasions they managed to outplay their opponents by 180 or more than 180 runs. Even before Australia became the first Test side to play an entire tour of England without losing a match and earned the moniker of "The Invincibles" and went down as one of the greatest sides to play the game, they had already been unbeaten in 11 consecutive Tests against New Zealand, England and India. Duke had five-game streaks in . ODI # 4440. Although they were unbeaten in 26 Tests, of those matches they won only nine and just three of them came away from home. Despite Brian Lara scoring over 600 runs in 3 Tests, Sri Lanka won all of them which went to prove that cricket is a team game, not an individual one. The group that's frequently alluded to as Sir Don Bradmans Invincibles is one of the foremost impressive the game has ever seen. Most consecutive matches without a defeat. So, their name had to feature in this list. This was the period in which Australia defended their World Cup title successfully, with Ricky Ponting taking up the leadership reins only a year ago. Records include the following recent matches: United Arab Emirates v Namibia at Dubai (DSC), ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 128th match, Feb 25, 2023 [ ODI # 4522] United Arab Emirates v Namibia at Dubai (DSC), ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 127th match, Feb 23, 2023 [ ODI # 4521] West Indies domination in the 70s and 80s, Australia's domination in both test and ODIs, Sri Lanka's destructive opening pairs, India's rise in the Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni era, all these remind us of the times when the respective nations were the best at what they did. Bhanu Pratap Singh. With an unbeaten run that stretched to 26 Tests from June 1968 to August 1971. They were coming under pressure in the home summer as a determined South Africa felt that Australia had become vulnerable. Cricket. From October 1999 to November 2007, Australia won an unimaginable 72 Tests out of the 93 they played, with only 11 draws. Yet, Australia began their campaign in style beating pushovers Scotland and Holland as well as giants South Africa in the group matches, the win against South Africa being a huge confidence booster for the team as the Proteas were the closest competitors to stop the Australian juggernaut in the Caribbean. The tour began with Australia expectedly walking over India by 10 wickets at Mumbai in the first Test. Your login session has expired. List of Teams With The Most Consecutive March Madness Appearances. 1.91 - New Zealand's run rate in the Kanpur Test, the second-lowest by any team in the last 20 years while batting out 200 or more overs. As much as it is hard to win a Test, whether home or away, it is even harder to remain unbeaten for any amount of time. They whitewashed West Indies, England, and Sri Lanka at home, whitewashed Bangladesh away from home and were leading India 2-0 and on a 16-game winning run before Anil Kumble's side stunned them at Perth and won by 72 runs thereby ending both their world record winning run and their 22-game unbeaten streak. Records include the following recent matches: India v Australia at Delhi, 2nd Test, Feb 17-19, 2023 [ Test # 2493] New Zealand v England at Mount Maunganui, 1st Test, Feb 16-19, 2023 [ Test # 2492] Zimbabwe v West Indies at Bulawayo, 2nd Test, Feb 12-14, 2023 [ Test # 2491] More than you might think, England are playing with a previously unimagined sense of adventure, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth spins himself into Jaffna history books, The hottest contest right now is Shahid Afridi vs the universe. This defeat against Bangladesh also halted New Zealand's record spree of eight Test . It is one of the greatest modern streaks in cricket history and the unique thing about Australia's unbeaten streak at the Gabba is that it is still in progress. Most of the players took part in the IPL 2008, but after the event, a tri-series was scheduled to be played in Bangladesh alongside the hosts and India. They achieved their longest winning streak, of 11 Test matches in the year 1984 making it a golden year for West Indies cricket, which suffered a mini setback after the World Cup final loss against India in 1983. South Africa are second with 12 consecutive wins only. Then came the Final Frontier in February 2011, which Waugh addressed India as. Perhaps they have never quite caught the eye and that is a surprise, especially considering the fact they are only one of two teams to have more than 25 consecutive Tests without defeat. List of longest unbeaten streaks in Test cricket for Indian captains Ashwin went past Harbhajan Singh's tally of 417 when he dismissed Latham on the fifth day. They played their first Test at the venue against arch-rivals India in February of 1955. Longest Winning Streaks in Cricket This began the winning streak and South Africa were helped by the fact that they had no away Tests in 2002, so their next assignment being the home summer against all three Asian teams, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It all started against their toughest competitors, Australia at home. Sri Lanka won the title with a crushing 8 wicket win, under the captaincy of Sanath Jayasuriya. They achieved 6 wins on the trot, coming at the fag end of the series which included beating England 2-0 in the best of 3 finals. The time the Windies achieved 11 Test wins consecutively, was also incidentally marked by the same team winning 11 ODIs on the trot as well. The kings of cricket in the 70s and 80s, the men from the Caribbean had to feature in this list. Records / Test matches / Team records / Most consecutive series without defeat, The Wisden Trophy (West Indies in England), 1980, West Indies in Pakistan Test Series, 1980/81, The Wisden Trophy (England in West Indies), 1980/81, The Frank Worrell Trophy (West Indies in Australia), 1981/82, India in West Indies Test Series, 1982/83, West Indies in India Test Series, 1983/84, The Frank Worrell Trophy (Australia in West Indies), 1983/84, The Wisden Trophy (West Indies in England), 1984, The Frank Worrell Trophy (West Indies in Australia), 1984/85, New Zealand in West Indies Test Series, 1984/85, The Wisden Trophy (England in West Indies), 1985/86, West Indies in Pakistan Test Series, 1986/87, West Indies in New Zealand Test Series, 1986/87, West Indies in India Test Series, 1987/88, Pakistan in West Indies Test Series, 1987/88, The Wisden Trophy (West Indies in England), 1988, The Frank Worrell Trophy (West Indies in Australia), 1988/89, India in West Indies Test Series, 1988/89, The Wisden Trophy (England in West Indies), 1989/90, West Indies in Pakistan Test Series, 1990/91, The Frank Worrell Trophy (Australia in West Indies), 1990/91, The Wisden Trophy (West Indies in England), 1991, South Africa in West Indies Test Match, 1991/92, The Frank Worrell Trophy (West Indies in Australia), 1992/93, Pakistan in West Indies Test Series, 1992/93, West Indies in Sri Lanka Test Match, 1993/94, The Wisden Trophy (England in West Indies), 1993/94, West Indies in India Test Series, 1994/95, West Indies in New Zealand Test Series, 1994/95, Trans-Tasman Trophy (New Zealand in Australia), 2001/02, South Africa in Australia Test Series, 2001/02, Australia in South Africa Test Series, 2001/02, Australia v Pakistan Test Series (in Sri Lanka/United Arab Emirates), 2002/03, The Ashes (England in Australia), 2002/03, The Frank Worrell Trophy (Australia in West Indies), 2003, Bangladesh in Australia Test Series, 2003, Southern Cross Trophy (Zimbabwe in Australia), 2003/04, Border-Gavaskar Trophy (India in Australia), 2003/04, Australia in Sri Lanka Test Series, 2003/04, Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Australia in India), 2004/05, Trans-Tasman Trophy (New Zealand in Australia), 2004/05, Pakistan in Australia Test Series, 2004/05, Trans-Tasman Trophy (Australia in New Zealand), 2004/05, England in New Zealand Test Series, 1950/51, South Africa in England Test Series, 1951, England in West Indies Test Series, 1953/54, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1954/55, England in New Zealand Test Series, 1954/55, South Africa in England Test Series, 1955, England in South Africa Test Series, 1956/57, Basil D'Oliveira Trophy (England in South Africa), 2009/10, South Africa in India Test Series, 2009/10, Sir Vivian Richards Trophy (South Africa in West Indies), 2010, Pakistan v South Africa Test Series (in United Arab Emirates), 2010/11, India in South Africa Test Series, 2010/11, Australia in South Africa Test Series, 2011/12, Sri Lanka in South Africa Test Series, 2011/12, South Africa in New Zealand Test Series, 2011/12, Basil D'Oliveira Trophy (South Africa in England), 2012, South Africa in Australia Test Series, 2012/13, New Zealand in South Africa Test Series, 2012/13, Pakistan in South Africa Test Series, 2012/13, Pakistan v South Africa Test Series (in United Arab Emirates), 2013/14, India in South Africa Test Series, 2013/14, Australia in South Africa Test Series, 1957/58, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1958/59, Australia in Pakistan Test Series, 1959/60, The Frank Worrell Trophy (West Indies in Australia), 1960/61, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1962/63, South Africa in Australia Test Series, 1963/64, Australia in Pakistan Test Match, 1964/65, Pakistan in Australia Test Match, 1964/65, Australia in South Africa Test Series, 1935/36, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1936/37, Australia in New Zealand Test Match, 1945/46, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1946/47, Australia in South Africa Test Series, 1949/50, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1950/51, West Indies in Australia Test Series, 1951/52, South Africa in Australia Test Series, 1952/53, Pakistan in Australia Test Series, 1972/73, The Frank Worrell Trophy (Australia in West Indies), 1972/73, New Zealand in Australia Test Series, 1973/74, Australia in New Zealand Test Series, 1973/74, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1974/75, The Frank Worrell Trophy (West Indies in Australia), 1975/76, Pakistan in Australia Test Series, 1976/77, Australia in New Zealand Test Series, 1976/77, Centenary Test (England in Australia), 1976/77, West Indies in South Africa Test Series, 1998/99, South Africa in New Zealand Test Series, 1998/99, South Africa v Zimbabwe Test Series (in South Africa/Zimbabwe), 1999/00, England in South Africa Test Series, 1999/00, South Africa in India Test Series, 1999/00, South Africa in Sri Lanka Test Series, 2000, New Zealand in South Africa Test Series, 2000/01, Sri Lanka in South Africa Test Series, 2000/01, Sir Vivian Richards Trophy (South Africa in West Indies), 2000/01, South Africa in Zimbabwe Test Series, 2001/02, India in South Africa Test Series, 2001/02, Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Australia in India), 2008/09, India in New Zealand Test Series, 2008/09, Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Australia in India), 2010/11, New Zealand in India Test Series, 2010/11, The Wisden Trophy (England in West Indies), 1967/68, The Wisden Trophy (West Indies in England), 1969, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1970/71, England in New Zealand Test Series, 1970/71, Sri Lanka in Pakistan Test Series, 1985/86, Pakistan in Sri Lanka Test Series, 1985/86, Australia in Pakistan Test Series, 1988/89, Pakistan in New Zealand Test Series, 1988/89, India in South Africa Test Series, 1992/93, South Africa in Sri Lanka Test Series, 1993, South Africa in Australia Test Series, 1993/94, Australia in South Africa Test Series, 1993/94, South Africa in England Test Series, 1994, New Zealand in South Africa Test Series, 1994/95, Pakistan in South Africa Test Match, 1994/95, Centenary Test (South Africa in New Zealand), 1994/95, South Africa in Zimbabwe Test Match, 1995/96, England in South Africa Test Series, 1995/96, India in South Africa Test Series, 2006/07, Pakistan in South Africa Test Series, 2006/07, South Africa in Pakistan Test Series, 2007/08, New Zealand in South Africa Test Series, 2007/08, Sir Vivian Richards Trophy (West Indies in South Africa), 2007/08, South Africa in Bangladesh Test Series, 2007/08, South Africa in India Test Series, 2007/08, Basil D'Oliveira Trophy (South Africa in England), 2008, Bangladesh in South Africa Test Series, 2008/09, South Africa in Australia Test Series, 2008/09, Freedom Trophy (South Africa in India), 2015/16, New Zealand in India Test Series, 2016/17, Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Australia in India), 2016/17, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1884/85, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1886/87, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1887/88, England in South Africa Test Series, 1888/89, England in South Africa Test Match, 1891/92, ICC Super Series Test Match (ICC World XI in Australia), 2005/06, The Frank Worrell Trophy (West Indies in Australia), 2005/06, South Africa in Australia Test Series, 2005/06, Australia in South Africa Test Series, 2005/06, Australia in Bangladesh Test Series, 2005/06, The Ashes (England in Australia), 2006/07, Warne-Muralitharan Trophy (Sri Lanka in Australia), 2007/08, Border-Gavaskar Trophy (India in Australia), 2007/08, The Frank Worrell Trophy (Australia in West Indies), 2008, The Wisden Trophy (West Indies in England), 2009, England in Bangladesh Test Series, 2009/10, The Ashes (England in Australia), 2010/11, England in South Africa Test Series, 1927/28, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1928/29, South Africa in England Test Series, 1929, England in New Zealand Test Series, 1929/30, England in West Indies Test Series, 1929/30, England in New Zealand Test Series, 1977/78, The Ashes (England in Australia), 1978/79, New Zealand in India Test Series, 1995/96, England in Sri Lanka Test Series, 2007/08, Sri Lanka in West Indies Test Series, 2007/08, Sri Lanka in Bangladesh Test Series, 2008/09, Sri Lanka in Pakistan Test Series, 2008/09, New Zealand in Sri Lanka Test Series, 2009, Pakistan in New Zealand Test Series, 2010/11, Pakistan in West Indies Test Series, 2011, Pakistan v Sri Lanka Test Series (in United Arab Emirates), 2011/12, Pakistan in Bangladesh Test Series, 2011/12, Pakistan v England Test Series (in United Arab Emirates), 2011/12, New Zealand in Bangladesh Test Series, 2013/14, West Indies in New Zealand Test Series, 2013/14, India in New Zealand Test Series, 2013/14, New Zealand in West Indies Test Series, 2014, Pakistan v New Zealand Test Series (in United Arab Emirates), 2014/15, Sri Lanka in New Zealand Test Series, 2014/15, Pakistan v Australia Test Series (in United Arab Emirates), 2014/15, Pakistan v England Test Series (in United Arab Emirates), 2015/16, Pakistan v West Indies Test Series (in United Arab Emirates), 2016/17, West Indies in New Zealand Test Series, 2017/18, England in New Zealand Test Series, 2017/18, Pakistan v New Zealand Test Series (in United Arab Emirates), 2018/19, Sri Lanka in New Zealand Test Series, 2018/19, Bangladesh in New Zealand Test Series, 2018/19, New Zealand in Sri Lanka Test Series, 2019, England in New Zealand Test Series, 2019/20, Readers recommend - Curated tweets by ESPNcricinfo. It was their longest unbeaten streak in Tests at home, a run that started after losing to South Africa in 2017. In all the five Tests, West Indies beat England and that too in a manner of disdain. 18 This is India's longest unbeaten streak in Tests, going past their 17 match streak between September 1985 and March 1987. Matt Short has continued his rich vein of form to help Victoria to a 61-run lead at the midway point of their Sheffield Shield match against NSW in Albury. He is the third-highest wicket-taker for India in this format. 5 This is India's fifth series win in a row, a streak that started with the 2-1 win in Sri Lanka last year. 14 - Consecutive Tests in India being won (or lost) before the Kanpur Test, the longest sequence of such Tests in the country. Get to know Cameron Green, Kohli vs Smith, Bumrah vs Hazlewood, Ashwin vs Lyon, and other key battles, Australia lean towards Joe Burns' continuity, Matthew Wade firms to open, Steven Smith absent for Australia net session after tweaking back, Cameron Green will make Test debut if he passes concussion protocols, WTC equations: India need to target five wins, Australia on easier footing, World Test Championship - New Zealand put pressure on India as race to Lord's final heats up, Excited about possibility of playing WTC final, but focused on Pakistan - Tom Latham, West Indies to tour Bangladesh in January for three ODIs, two Tests, Rain leaves points shared after Ashton Turner's sixes onslaught.