Even the English weather was unable to conjure up enough savagery to once again break the hearts of New Zealanders. Glowing late-afternoon sunshine carried New Zealand to their first world championship, the inaugural World Test Championship, two years after they missed out on the ODI World Cup without actually losing the final. On the reserve day of the match, which consisted of only three and a half days of actual cricket due to inclement weather, it was already past the time of regular close.
What a cricket match, though. In such little time, a fascinating cricket match was produced by two incredibly strong teams in very challenging batting conditions. To have a chance of winning, New Zealand needed to be extremely effective, reliable, and skilled, and they succeeded just in time. New Zealand defeated India by 8 wickets on the Reserve Day to win the first World Test Championship at Southampton Rose Bowl despite two of the five scheduled days of play being rained out.
Partnership between Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson took the Kiwis over the finish-line
The defeat extended India’s eight-year major trophy drought, and attention will be focused on the forthcoming tournaments to put an end to it. On the other hand, New Zealand ended their major trophy drought with the win.
In the opening hour of the Reserve Day, Kyle Jamieson caused chaos once more by dismissing Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, leading to India being bowled out for 170. Typical of him, Rishabh Pant made 41 runs, but the wickets continued to tumble from one end. Later on in the 139-run chase, New Zealand was reduced to 44 for 2, but Kane Williamson (52*) and Ross Taylor (47*) stayed steadfast once more and led their team to victory.
The previous three innings had averaged 2.35, 2.5, and 2.32 runs per over, and India wasn’t exactly laying anything on the line with a target of 139 in 53 overs. The Kiwis had only scored 44 in 17.2 overs when R Ashwin removed both of the openers. A weaker batting squad may have even taken a chance and offered India a window, but Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson carried the team home with an unbroken partnership of 96 runs in 28.3 overs.