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.