Team India's seven-match winning streak in the ICC World Test Championship came to an end when they went down to New Zealand by ten wickets at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. On the other hand, the Kiwis advanced in the points table with their first win since August last year.
Resuming at an overnight score of 144 for four, Indian batters once again failed to resist the brilliance of Tim Southee, who scalped four wickets in the morning to bowl out India for 191 runs. Trent Boult struck in his second over of the day, using the angle from round the wicket to the right-handed Anjikye Rahane to induce an edge behind, the batsman departing for 29.
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Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma added 27 runs for the eighth wicket but Southee rose to brilliance to seal India's fate in the first Test. Tim Southee finished with five for 61 runs to complete a nine-wicket haul in the match while Trent Boult chipped with four wickets in the second innings. With nine runs needed for victory, New Zealand openers Tom Latham and Tom Blundell took only 10 balls to ease past the target, and secure New Zealand's 100th Test win.
India still at the top
Despite the ten-wicket drubbing, India continue to occupy the top spot with 360 points from eight matches. They are the only team to scale the 300-point mark while Australia sit pretty well in the second place with 296 points from ten matches. Meanwhile, New Zealand have come up in the table to occupy the fifth spot with 120 points from six Tests.
A 10 wicket win at the @BasinReserve to start the series! Tom Blundell hits the winning runs in the team's 100th Test victory. The 20th at the Basin. Scorecard | https://t.co/vWdNIMMIwd #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/yK9285KTFQ
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 24, 2020
On the other hand, Bangladesh and West Indies are yet to open their account in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship.
Here is the updated ICC World Test Championship points table:
| Rank | Team | Series Played | Matches Played | Matches Won | Matches Tied | Matches Drawn | Matches Lost | Points |
| 1 | India | 4* | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 360 |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 296 |
| 3 | England | 2 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 146 |
| 4 | Pakistan | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 140 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 3* | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 120 |
| 5 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 80 |
| 7 | South Africa | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 24 |
| 8 | West Indies | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
