The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final has now entered the 'Reserve Day' of the play after two days were washed out due to rain a the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton.
As decided in June 2018, if the ICC WTC final between India and New Zealand ends in a draw or tie, both teams will be crowned as joint winners.
As per the ICC release, the playing conditions confirm that a draw or a tie will see both teams crowned as joint winners as well as the allocation of a Reserve Day to make up for any lost time during the regular days of the Final -- scheduled to be played from June 18 to 22, with June 23 set aside as the Reserve Day.
Both of these decisions were taken in June 2018, prior to the commencement of the ICC World Test Championship. The Reserve Day has been scheduled to ensure five full days of play, and it will only be used if lost playing time cannot be recovered.
There will be no additional day's play if a positive result is not achieved after five full days of play. The match will be declared a draw in such a scenario.
In the event of time being lost during the match, the ICC Match Referee will regularly update the teams and media about the way in which the Reserve Day may be used.
Reserve Day rules explained:
The reserve day will start at 03:00 PM IST and the maximum duration of play is a minimum of 330 minutes plus the last hour. A maximum of 98 overs will be bowled including 15 overs in the mandatory last hour. The on-field umpires will signal the start of the mandatory last hour.
If play is suspended for any other reason than the normal intervals before the start of the final hour, then playing time will be extended to make up for the time lost. The WTC mace will be shared between two sides if the game ends in a stalemate after 98 overs of play.
