New Zealand win the ICC World Test Championship: Records broken
A defiant New Zealand outfit beat Team India in the ICC World Test Championship final at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. With the rain-hit Test match getting into the sixth day (reserve), India offered little substance with the bat as the Kiwis were top-notch with the ball. Chasing a paltry target of 139, New Zealand got the job done in the third session.
India were asked to bat on Day 2 as they lost momentum, managing just 217. Ajinkya Rahane scored 49 and Kyle Jamieson claimed a fifer. New Zealand were in trouble at 135/5 but Williamson's 49 and key contributions from the lower-middle order helped them take a 32-run lead. India were bowled out for 170 in the second innings before NZ sealed the deal.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli surpassed the 7,500-run mark in Tests during his 44-run knock in the first innings. The 32-year-old became the sixth Indian batter to surpass the tally. Kohli (44 and 13) also went past the likes of Clive Lloyd (7,515), Mark Taylor (7,525), Mohammad Yousuf (7,530), and Steve Smith (7,540). Kohli has also gone past the 800-run mark against New Zealand.
Since his debut in Test cricket a decade ago, Kohli took 13 innings to score his first century, Now it has been 14 innings since he scored his last century in Test cricket. This is his longest period without scoring a ton in Tests (Opta).
Indian opener Rohit Sharma got scores of 34 and 30 in the WTC final. He has now surpassed the 400-run mark against NZ in Tests (424). He ended the ICC World Test Championship 2019-21 with 1,094 runs at 60.77. Meanwhile, Kohli became the third Indian batter to get past 900 runs in the WTC 2019-21 (934) after Ajinkya Rahane (1,159) and Rohit.
NZ skipper Kane Williamson got to a patient 49 in the first innings. The feat saw him get past Stephen Fleming (7,172) in terms of Test runs. Williamson is now the second-highest run-scorer for New Zealand in Tests. Williamson faced 177 deliveries in the first innings. As per Opta, his strike-rate of 27.7 is the lowest he has had in an innings in Tests.
New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson claimed seven wickets in the WTC final, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings. Since making his debut in the Test series against India in 2020, Jamieson has raced to 46 scalps at 14.17. He claimed his fifth five-wicket haul and a second versus India. He now has 16 wickets against Team India at 13.00.
As per Opta, 83% of Jamieson's deliveries in this WTC final were pitched outside the off stump. This is the highest rate for any New Zealand bowler. Notably, six of his seven wickets came from balls on this line. Meanwhile, no other bowler has more five-wicket hauls in Tests than Jamieson since his debut on February 21, 2020.
By dismissing Shubman Gill in the second innings, senior pacer Tim Southee got to 600 career international wickets (603). He now has 314 Test scalps. Southee also has 190 wickets in ODI cricket and 99 in T20Is. Southee claimed five scalps in the match. He has surpassed the likes of Mitchell Johnson (313), Zaheer Khan (311), and Brett Lee (309) in terms of wickets.
Trent Boult claimed five wickets in this Test. The left-arm pacer has raced to 292 Test wickets at 27.67. Boult has now equaled the tally of former South African star Jacques Kallis in terms of Test scalps. Boult is now the third-highest wicket-taker for NZ against Team India in Tests (41). He and Southee (44) surpassed former Kiwi spinner Daniel Vettori (40).
Jamieson has become the first New Zealand bowler to get his fifth five-for within his first eight Tests. The tall seamer also has the most wickets for New Zealand after the first eight Tests. He has surpassed Jack Cowie on the list, who took 41 wickets. Shane Bond (38), Doug Bracewell (33), Hedley Howarth (32), Mark Craig (31) are the others on the list.
Neil Wagner took three wickets in the WTC final. With this tally, he has now matched the tally of former England pacer Darren Gough in terms of wickets (229). Wagner now has 21 wickets against India.
This was India's third straight loss against New Zealand in the ICC WTC 2019-21. They were thrashed by New Zealand 0-2 in the 2020 Test series. And now, they faced another defeat in a similar manner. Notably, India have surpassed the 200-run mark against NZ on just two occasions in these three Tests. Their scores read: 165, 191, 242, 124, 217, and 170.
India's premier off-spinner R Ashwin claimed three wickets in the match. Ash has raced to 413 career Test wickets. Ashwin now has 52 wickets against the Kiwis, becoming the fourth Indian bowler to take 50-plus scalps. He got past Anil Kumble's tally of 50 wickets against NZ.
Devon Conway, who hit a double-century in his debut Test innings against England, continued his sublime form. Conway hit a splendid 52 in the first innings, notching his second fifty in Tests. The southpaw scored 19 in the second innings. Conway now has 379 runs in three Tests at an average of 63.16.
