New Zealand won the historical event; ICC World Test Championship. New Zealand will always be remembered for this victory as they are the first-ever WTC Final Champions. The Black Caps defeated the best Indian lineup to win the title of champions.
New Zealand has been performing good consistently entering into ICC World Cup finals in 2015 and 2019 but ending the season as runner-ups. This time finally Kane Williamson and co. were able to get their hands on the prestigious trophy. This was the first ICC trophy for New Zealand in two decades. New Zealand completely outperformed Indians in the 6th Day of WTC final at Ageas Bowl, Southampton.
First, it looked like the game would end in a draw and both the teams would share the trophy due to a lot of interruption in the match because of rain and bad lights. Kiwis worked hard and delivered their best performance to defeat India and lift the trophy.
Here’s we have a look at 3 reasons why the Black Caps prevailed as the winners:
1. Right bowling unit selection which included 5 Pacers
NZ have got many things right.
1. Picking the right XI (with 5 fast bowlers was masterstroke.)
2. Winning toss & Bowling first on a juicy wicket.
3. KW rotating his bowlers well and keeping them fresh.
4. Exceptional slip catching.
5. Some good luck.#INDvsNZ #WTCFinal2021— Kanthikiran (@Kanthiikiran) June 23, 2021
Historically the pitch in Southampton favors pacer mostly and most of the teams pick more Pacers while playing matches there. New Zealand followed this trend and added as many as 5 Pacers to the team. India and New Zealand read the conditions differently as India went only with 3 Pacers which included Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah, and 2 spinners; Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
New Zealand Pace battery consisting of Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, Kyle Jamieson, and Tim Southee troubled Indian batting a lot in both the innings and all of them got wickets. However The 5th fast bowler, All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme was unable to pick Wickets and bowled only in the first innings, when the main pacers were taking a rest.
Most of the Indians batsmen love to play against spinners as they pitch in India are more spin-friendly, New Zealand team made a masterstroke by not including any spinner. Also, Blackcaps didn’t have any experienced spinner in the team and only Ajaz Patel was the option to be included in the team. Players like Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant would have enjoyed batting against him a lot.
The most dangerous bowler in the match proved out to be Kyle Jamieson. He destroyed the Indian batsman in the first innings. Becoming the first bowler to get a 5 wicket haul in the World Tey Championship final. In the second innings, he managed to get 3 big wickets which included Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara
Many cricket experts opined that India did a mistake by not adding one more fast bowler to the team. India had many good options like specialist bowlers like Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav. Also, they could have gone with a bowling all-rounder who does a decent batting Shardul Thakur.
2. Kane Williamson and Devon Conway’s brilliant batting
• 200 on test debut at Lord's
• Tone Setting 80 at Birmingham
• 50 now in the WTC FinalAfter scoring ~7500 FC runs at 48, Devon Conway is now bossing test cricket for fun. Mike Hussey will be proud.
— Srini Mama (@SriniMaama16) June 20, 2021
Batting in Southampton was not an easy job, conditions were more bowler-friendly that’s why India fought hard to score 217 runs in the first innings, and New Zealand was also bowled out at the score of 249.
The man in form Devon Conway was playing only the 3rd Test of his international career, and he was the one to score a half-century in the first inning and becoming the first man to score a fifty in the WTC Final. The Kiwi opener scored 54 runs from 153 bowls.
Skipper Kane Williamson scored 49 runs in the first innings and just missed a half-century by 1 run as Ishant Sharma was able to get his wicket. Cool Kane Williamson batted very patiently in the first innings. He stood on the one side and just refused to give his wicket away.
On the other end, he was not getting any support still he fought hard and made an important contribution to the team’s score. While batting in the second innings, Kane Williamson guided Kiwis towards victory by scoring unbeaten 52 runs.
Captain Williamson and opener Conway were only two half-centurions and they were among the top two run-getters in the WTC final.
3. New Zealand’s sensational fielding
Don't forget Tom Latham fielding skills
He saved 30+ runs and took brilliant catches at slip pic.twitter.com/GB3b9PILnk
— jayaprakash (@jayaprakash_JSP) June 23, 2021
New Zealand outperformed India in all three aspects and fielding was one of them. The Black Caps players gave everything and did remarkable fielding in the finals Opener Tom Latham single-handedly saved more than 30 runs for the team. Latham also took some brilliant catches.
Besides Latham, Henry Nicholls also took a stunner to dismiss Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant in the second innings. There were many occasions in the two innings where New Zealand fielders impressed everybody with their efforts on the field. These small-small things in the end helped New Zealand to lift the trophy of the ICC World Test Championship.
It was a remarkable night for cricket fans as the thriller match between India and New Zealand came down to the 6th and final day. And Team of Gentlemen’s; the Black Caps finally lifted the trophy under Kane Williamson.
Akash Chopra said a very beautiful thing, “GOOD GUYS DON’T ALWAYS FINISH LAST.”
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