ENG vs SL | 1st T20I: Jos Buttler, bowlers hand hosts comprehensive win

England had a perfect start to the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka on Wednesday in Cardiff after they defeated the visitors by 8 wickets to go 1-0 up. Chasing 130 in 20 overs, the hosts went over the line in 17.1 overs riding on an unbeaten half-century from Jos Buttler.

The home side started off the chase in a comfortable manner after openers Jason Roy and Buttler put 80 on the board for the first wicket before Roy departed for 36 off 22. Dushmantha Chameera provided Sri Lanka with the first breakthrough.

England then lost Dawid Malan who came in at number three for just 7 runs while the team score read 112 but Buttler and Jonny Bairstow made sure that there were no further fall of wickets. Bairstow remained not out for 13.

Earlier, Sri Lanka who won the toss elected to bat first but had a disappointing start to the proceedings after losing Avishka Fernando for a four-ball duck in the innings.

Gunathilaka was then joined by captain Kusal Perera and the two stitched 29 runs for the second wicket before Gunathilaka was sent back in the hut for 19.

The opener’s departure was followed by some fall of wickets at regular intervals and Sri Lanka were soon reduced to 96/6 before Shanaka and Udana chipped in with some runs.

The two batsmen had a partnership of 33 runs for the seventh wicket. Shanaka though later was undone for 50 by Sam Curran and the visitors could only manage to score 129/7 in the allotted 20 overs.

Sam Curran and Adil Rashid scalped a couple of wickets for England while Mark Wood, Chris Jordan and Livingstone had one each.

Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Perera admitted that the batsmen didn’t put a good total on the board but was optimistic of making a comeback in the series. “Credit to England. They bowled well. We didn't have enough runs on the board. Our bowlers tried well. We are backing our batting to come back. Not a lot of time (before next match) and we hope to bounce back,” he said.

England captain Eoin Morgan was pretty happy with his team’s performance. “Quite a comprehensive performance. The pressure the boys created at the beginning, middle and end, was impressive. Bowlers made us look really good today, reduced Sri Lanka to an under-par score. Then the openers gave us that platform upfront, Jos showing his class once again. When you get ahead in the game, we have to sit back and get the best bowlers in certain situations. He (Livingstone) is an all-rounder in the squad, it was good to see him get a wicket early,” Morgan said after the match.

The two teams will now lock horns with each other in the second T20I on Thursday at the same venue.

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Sometimes, just sometimes, nice guys do finish first: Twitter reacts to New Zealand’s WTC triumph

After six ODI World Cup Semi-Final appearances, two ICC T20 World Cup Semi-Final appearances, two ICC Championship Trophy Semi-Final appearances, going 20 years without any ICC Trophy in their kitty (won ICC Knockout Trophy in 200, it was the predecessor to Champions Trophy), most recently losing in two ODI World Cup Finals, the latest being a shocking boundary count defeat in the 2019 World Cup after a Super Over tie, New Zealand finally came of age as they lifted the inaugural World Test Championship Mace by beating India by eight wickets in the Final at Southampton. This was the country’s first-ever World title in its 91 years of Test cricket history, having played the first Test against England in 1930. People were ecstatic with the victory of the ‘Good Boys’ or ‘Nice Guys’ of World Cricket, so much so that even Indian fans went on to applaud the Kiwi efforts of winning the game. The hashtag CongratulationsNZ trended in the top five in Twitter trends in India after the Blackcaps victory for a long time and a photo of Indian skipper Virat Kohli and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson went viral as well. After just over 310 overs being bowled in a minimum of 450 overs game and battling through the rain for most of the first four days, the victory by the New Zealand team was more than just magical. It was historic in the context of the game as they won the inaugural WTC Trophy. Kyle Jamieson was awarded Man of the Match.

Standing up here feels surreal: Man of the Match Kyle Jamieson after winning the WTC Final

Kyle Jamieson was short of words, he stuttered a bit, maybe in search of words for what he had achieved in such a young career of his. becoming Man of the Match in the greatest Test match ever to be played in the game of cricket is after all no mean feat. But when he did speak, his voice was as confident as his spell in the first innings. “To have something of this context in Test cricket is massive, and to be standing up here is surreal,” said the six-foot eight-inch framed man who swings the ball like a feather. Jamieson, who picked up his fifth five-wicket haul in only his eighth Test, was pleased with his skipper showing great confidence in him. “It was nice to get the ball first up and to play a part, I guess,” he said on his first innings performance while speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony at Southampton. While in the first innings it was his 5-31 that lifted the team, in the second innings, he did an even exceptional job, removing the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara in the first hour of play on the last day of the match to give his team the advantage. “We knew we had a big first hour, and just to see how things panned out. We were hoping they might pan out our way if we put the ball in the right place, but we knew this is a quality Indian team as well,’ he said. Modesty is the name of the game it seems in New Zealand. Even the 26-year-old Jameison was modest enough to credit his senior fast bowlers Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner for all his achievements “The work that Tim, Trent, Wags do, I just ride in on the back of that,” he said. Talking about removing the opposition skipper and arguably the best batsman in the world right now, Virat Kohli in both the innings, Jamieson said he was thrilled to have done that.

WTC Final | Relentless Kiwis punish India, redeem themselves with first ICC title in decades

A calm and composed partnership between two senior pros Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor made 139 runs target set by India a fairly one-sided contest and clinched the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship for New Zealand. Ravichandran Ashwin used all the tricks and guile he had up his sleeve to bring India into reckoning with the big wickets of Tom Latham and Devon Conway, but the pair of Williamson and Taylor was too disciplined early on and lucky to be dismissed. In the end, in the most fitting way, Ross Taylor clipped Mohammed Shami over the in-field to score the winning runs and win New Zealand their first ICC title since 1999. However, the biggest henchmen for New Zealand’s were the bowlers, who never allowed India to get away with a flow of runs or an extended period of partnership. The day started on a rather inauspicious note for India as Virat Kohli, who appeared tentative in search of that nip backer that found him plumb in the first innings, edged behind to Watling behind the wicket on delivery he could have left it easily if not for the baggage of the first innings. The day went from bad to worse for Indians as Cheteshwar Pujara too fell for a similar dismissal by poking Jamieson to Ross Taylor at the first slip. Things could have been far worse than it actually turned out but Tim Southee spilt a sitter off the edge of Rishabh Pant’s bat. Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and Pant started bringing India back on track but after the right-hander found a loss delivery outside off stump, he was strangled down the leg side off Trent Boult. Rahane’s departure led to an outrageous attempt of counter-attacking by Rishabh Pant, who went down the track to hit pacers over the top on numerous occasions but it was not to be for India. Ravindra Jadeja joined Pant to take India to the lunch interval with the lead in the range of 100 runs. But, just when Jadeja looked settled at the crease, Williamson switched to his tormentor-in-chief Wagner from round the wicket and he set up Jadeja with discipline and perseverance. Pant’s remarkable attempt to hit bowlers off their length did not pay off today and India’s lower-order batsmen were left helpless in the hands of the dominating New Zealand bowling lineup. In the end, India were bundled out for 170 runs and New Zealand had a clear target in their sight to lift the much-vaunted ICC Mace, and Williamson played a chanceless innings to deny India any opportunity to get back in the game. Taylor took a long time to get off the mark after walking out to the bat when the Blackcaps needed 93 runs but finally opened up his shoulders against the off-spin of Ravi Ashwin. He also offered a chance to Pujara at the first slip off Bumrah but India’s number three compounded poor batting performances by dropping a straightforward chance. Kyle Jamieson broke the backbone of India’s batting in both innings with the big wickets of Kohli, Pujara and Rohit Sharma and also played a handy knock with the bat to help New Zealand achieve a lead of 32 runs in the first innings, and was rightfully awarded with the Player of the Match award in the end.

The way this team fought, it’s something I’ll never forget: Ross Taylor on winning WTC Final

Ross Taylor has been part of the New Zealand side which lost the semi-final in the 2007 ODI World Cup, of the side which lost the semi-final once again in the 2007 T20 World Cup, in 2011 ODI World Cup, 2015 World Cup Final and the latest a boundaries count loss in the 2019 World Cup Final. It was finally redemption day for him and his team New Zealand when they won the inaugural World Test Championship at Hampshire Bowl, Southampton. For Taylor, it was the winning mentality and never give up attitude of the team that got them to their first World title. Talking in an interview post-match, the 37-year-old said, “A lot of rain but the way the team fought from day one, to be out there in a crucial situation for a little bit, it's something I'll never forget.” Talking about the feeling of finally being World Champion, Taylor, who completed 18,000 runs in international cricket in this very match said, “Still sinking in but it's been a couple of years coming. This would have to be the highlight of my career.” Taylor, who made his Test debut in 2007 and was made the skipper of the Test team and then removed unceremoniously just before the now ‘iconic’ Capetown Test which led to the reconstruction of the is team, maybe from their own ‘Ashes’ of a sort, couldn’t be happier to win a World title with this team. “At the start of my career, I felt we probably didn't have the side to do this. But am sure there are a few Kiwis waking up who will be very proud,” said Taylor. The first person of Samoan descent to represent a New Zealand cricket team, Taylor felt that this Trophy more than made up for the World Cup loss two years ago. “There was a lot of pressure, it was nice to be standing up to it. 2019 World Cup was something that was very tough for us at the time, but this makes up for that. Over time, it'll sink in a little more,” he said before signing off. Taylor played an important knock in the second innings when New Zealand chased down 139. Taylor remained unbeaten on 47 and fittingly hit the winning four. He added unbeaten 96 runs for the fourth wicket alongside skipper Kane Williamson having come at a troubling situation with New Zealand at 44-2 and Ravichandran Ashwin firing all cylinders.