New Zealand now lead the World Test Championship standings, South Africa have climbed to second, Australia have slipped to third, and India have moved up to fourth — all without India playing a Test — after two results on October 31 reshaped the 2025-27 cycle.
The first domino fell at Newlands, where South Africa beat Australia by 176 runs in the series decider to seal a 2-1 series win. Australia had entered the match at the top of the table with a points percentage of 75.00, but defeat dropped them to third on 69.23, from 13 Tests with nine wins, four defeats and 108 points. South Africa, who were third on 66.67 before the decider, rose to second on 71.43, from seven Tests with five wins and two defeats and 60 points. The Proteas also took the world No. 1 Test ranking from Australia in the process, completing a remarkable comeback after losing the first Test in Durban by 214 runs.
New Zealand sit above them both on 72.22, from six Tests with four wins, one defeat and one draw and 52 points. The gap at the top is now wafer-thin — less than one percentage point separates first from second — and the next meetings between the leading sides will matter enormously. Australia, who need to recover quickly to keep alive their bid for a third consecutive WTC final appearance, next face New Zealand in December, while South Africa’s title defence continues at home against Bangladesh from November 15.
The second domino fell in Mirpur, where West Indies beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in the first Test to take a 1-0 lead in their two-match series. Chasing 170, the visitors got home with Brandon King’s unbeaten 81 and John Campbell’s 49 in a 112-run opening stand, after Jomel Warrican’s four wickets in Bangladesh’s second innings earned him the player-of-the-match award. The win lifted West Indies to eighth on 26.92, from 13 Tests with three wins, eight defeats and two draws and 42 points, closing the gap on seventh-placed Sri Lanka on 33.33.
Bangladesh paid the price. They had been fourth on 55.56 before the Mirpur defeat, but their percentage fell to 47.62, from seven Tests with three wins, three defeats and one draw and 40 points, dropping them to fifth. India, on 51.52 from 11 Tests with five wins, four defeats and two draws and 68 points, moved up to fourth without playing — and, crucially, with seven Tests still to play in this cycle, two away against New Zealand and five at home against Australia.
That remaining schedule is why fourth place matters more than it looks. Win all seven and India would finish on 70.37; win six and they would reach 65.00. Neither guarantees a place in the final at Lord’s in June 2027, but both keep India firmly in a race that, after October 31, is wide open at the top and still has 10 series to run. The table’s top three are separated by fewer than three percentage points, and the team that wins the India-New Zealand Tests starting on November 19 could easily be the team that ends the year on top.
Read our South Africa-Australia decider report here: https://t20star.com/harmers-career-best-6-for-16-seals-176-run-win-as-south-africa-clinch-series-2-1-and-top-test-rankings/
Read our West Indies-Bangladesh result report here: https://t20star.com/kings-career-best-81-seals-eight-wicket-win-as-west-indies-end-bangladeshs-home-test-run-in-mirpur/
Read our WTC qualification scenarios explainer here: https://t20star.com/world-test-championship-standings-india-qualification-scenarios/
