WTC Final: New Zealand’s road to Southampton

India’s opposition at the World Test Championship Final is going to be New Zealand. The Blackcaps were never the favourites to make it to the final of the WTC in the face of Test supreme nations like England Australia and India. However, as they say, cricket is a game of uncertainties and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that one of the major uncertainties not just in cricket, but the entire world, called Covid-19 helped the Kiwi team. 

It certainly reduced Kane Williamson’s men’s tour to Bangladesh for the two-match Test series. But on the other hand, the Percentage of Points came into action as the points counting mechanism for WTC and Australia also pulled out of its tour to Bangladesh and South Africa, making the New Zealand qualification process a lot easier than expected. 

However, all this cannot take away from the Kiwi team the fact that they won all their home games and utilised their resources one hundred per cent to make sure they reach their ultimate destination deservingly. 

Now that they are in Southampton and it is just one more day before they finally appear in another ICC Final in England within two year’s time, it would be great to have look at their topsy turvy journey to the Rose Bowl in Southampton. 

New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka 2019

Fresh from being robbed of the elusive silverware at the World Cup 2019, not by any team or because of their own fault, but by a certain rule which has now been changed, New Zealand toured Sri Lanka in August 2019 for their first World Test championship assignment. 

In the first game at Galle, the Kiwis were drubbed by Dimuth Karunaratne’s troops at what is considered Sri Lanka’s fortress in matters of Test cricket as the Lankan team has lost just eight and drawn six games out of the 33 they played there since 1998. In both, the innings skipper Williamson couldn’t reach the double figures. In fact, hadn’t it been for Ross Taylor’s 86 in the first and BJ Watling’s 77 in the second innings, the story of the Kiwis might have ended sooner than it did. Karunaratne was Sri Lanka’s hero with a fourth innings century to help his team chase down 268. 

On other Asian tours, New Zealand might have been considered down and out after the first loss, but not on this one. The Kiwis came roaring back in the second Test at P Sara Oval in Colombo. Thanks to some inspired bowling by Tim Southee (4 wickets) and Trent Boult (3 wickets) in the first inning and an exceptional hundred by Tom Latham (154), the Kiwis were up and running. With the help of Watling’s 105, they posted 431/6 and declared their first innings. 

Behind 187 runs, the Lankans were hammered by all the Blackcaps attacking at the same time, getting all out for 122. Williamson’s men won the match by an innings and 65 runs and levelled the series. 

New Zealand tour of Australia 2019-20

After levelling the series with Sri Lanka, the Kiwis went back home and welcomed England. They defeated the gusts 1-0 in the Test series, but unfortunately, it was not a part of the WTC. Post that home victory and chuffed by it, the Kiwis travelled trans Tasmania to Australia for a three-match Test series. 

Apart from Neil Wagner’s bouncers making every Australian batsman duck in their own home, especially Steve Smith, there were no other positives to be gained from that series from the New Zealand team. They were brutally beaten in that series and even got Lockie Ferguson injured just ahead of the key India series at home. 

While they lost the first game by 296 runs in the Day/Night Test at Perth, In Melbourne they were humiliated by 247 runs. Before the final game of the series in Sydney, they had lost both Southee and Boult as well along with Ferguson. The result however didn’t change as once again a more than 200 runs defeat was handed to the Kiwi team. 

India tour of New Zealand 2020

However, that loss in Sydney against Tim Paine’s team was also the last loss for the Kiwi team in Test cricket. Team India toured New Zealand at a time when the Kiwi team was recovering from the brutal beating it received at the hands of their neighbours. In the hindsight, it would be called a blessing in disguise for the Kiwi team that the India Tests were held after the limited-overs matches of that tour. 

Having been defeated 2-3 in T20Is, with two losses coming in Super Over, the Kiwis came back in ODIs to win the series 3-0 and that actually boosted their confidence before the Test series. Also, it was during that ODI series only that Kyle Jamieson was discovered by the Kiwis as late order batsman and great swing bowler. 

In the first Test, the Indians were humbled by 10 wickets thanks to the scintillating display of swing bowling by Southee, Boult and Jamieson. While Southee picked nine in the game including a third innings five-wicket haul, Boult and Jamieson shared eight wickets among themselves.  Batting wise, both the experienced compatriots, Williamson (89) and Taylor(44) guided the ship. India couldn’t touch the 200 mark in either of the innings. 



The second Test was slightly different as India scored 242 in the first innings and held New Zealand back at 235, thanks to some inspired bowling by Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. However, in the second innings, it was the same story all over for the Indian batting as they were bundled out for with Boult and Southee taking the majority of the scalps. Jamieson for his 49 and five-wicket haul in the first innings was adjourned Man of the Match while Southee bagged Man of the Series award. 

It was also during this very series that Kohli’s hundred making machine got a glitch and since then it has continued till now. 

West Indies tour of New Zealand 2020

Having given India a test of its own medicine, welcoming West Indies for two-match Test series as the first guests post the worldwide lockdown due to Covid-19 was an easy escape for New Zealand. The first Test at Hamilton, which began on December 3 saw one of the finest innings in this entire WTC when Williamson hit a very fine double century, his third of the career. 

On his way to 251, there were some strokes that flew out of the bat of Williamson which could only be marvelled upon.  The innings was also class apart as out of the total 519 runs that New Zealand scored, almost 50% came off the bat of Willamson. He hit 34 fours and only two sixes in the entire innings. 

The match was won by an innings and 134 runs by the Kiwis. 



For the second match of the series, Williamson opted out to be with his wife for their childbirth. Henry Nicholls decided to own that game, scoring 174 in the first innings. Once again West Indies were bundled out cheaply in the first innings in their reply to New Zealand’s 460. Even after scoring 317 in their second attempt, thanks to the fifties from Jason Holder, Joshua da Silva and John Campbell, Windies succumbed to a defeat of an innings and 12 runs. 

Pakistan tour of New Zealand 2020-21

New Zealand now had a defined target in mind when it welcomed Pakistan. They had to win the series 2-0 to keep their WTC Final hopes alive by all means. To achieve that, they bowled out the Pak team for 239 in the first innings in response to their own 431 of the first innings which included a Williamson hundred (129). 

There was resistance offred by acting skipper Mohammad Rizwan and all-rounder, Faheem Ashraf after the top order surrendered meekly, but it wasn’t as good as it should have been. In the second innings of Pakistan, Fawad Alma with his hundred tried to get things going in the favour of the guest, but eventually, it became too much to handle and in the dying minutes of the last day’s play, Mitchell Santner won it for the Blackcaps. 

The thrill of the first game was nowhere to be found in the second as in reply to Pakistan’s 297 in the first innings, the Kiwis mounted 659-6, once again courtesy a Kane Williamson double century, a Nicholls 150 plus score and this time around, even newbie Daryl Mitchell made good use of the opportunity to score his maiden Test hundred. 

Rizwan’s men were rather too meek in their reply of the total. Hardly any attempt to save the game was made with the team folding out for 186. 

New Zealand tour of England 2021

Having qualified for the WTC Final, New Zealand were offred more than just practice matches, they got a two-match Test series against a team of the quality of England to test all their strengths, having been away from Test cricket for more than six months. 

The opportunity was taken with both hands by breakaway star Devon Conway as he scored a double century on debut and that too at Lord’s to make a case for himself for entry into the Blackcaps Playing XI in the WTC Final. 

Having smelled victory, but not been able to get to it in the first Test, New Zealand didn’t try to overdo anything in search of victory. They rather pulled out most of their main players, making six changes in total to their previous XI for the second Test in Edgbaston. And amidst all the debate circling around Ollie Robinson and his controversial tweets, Matt Henry, stealthily took six wickets in the game to lead New Zealand to a historic series win. 

He was helped by Wagner and Boult in their attempt of bowling out England for 122 in the second innings. Conway was again among the runs with 80 in the first innings. Will Young too showed his class with an 83. With this series win, New Zealand also got back its number one ranking removing India from that position. 

The ultimate finale awaits

The Kiwi team has a problem of plenty, how are they going to solve it is going to be an interesting watch. Since January 6, 2020, it would now be 528 days that the Blackcaps have gone unbeaten in Test cricket and they have played eight Tests in that period. Will the loss come in the WTC Final or will the number one ranked Test side also be crowned the Word Test Champions? All shall unfold in the next six days, if not five, starting June 18. 

Stay tuned to the OneCricket app and website via your phones, tablets or laptops as we bring to you all the pre-match, in-match and post-match news along with ball by ball commentary of the game in an altogether different style. 

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PSL 2021 | KRQ vs LHQ: With back against the wall, Karachi find itself in do or die situation against Lahore

In the post-match presentation ceremony in the last game, the Karachi Kings skipper said, “If we think we can't make it, there's no point in playing, so we'll give it our best shot.” This was said immediately after their third consecutive loss in the Pakistan Super League 2021, this time at the hands of Peshawar Zalmi. But now is the time that the ‘best shot’ that Imad Wasim was talking about, needs to be delivered. For Karachi to qualify, they can still do with a loss mathematically, but morally, they need this win to tell themselves that we are here to compete and we are here to win and we are indeed the defending champions. However, it is not going to be one bit easy as they would be up against a Lahore Qalandars side who themselves are reeling from two consecutive losses after a great run in the opening two games. Sohail Akhtar’s side has not been able to chase their targets in the last two games and have rather collapsed at the top and in the middle, leaving many a loophole to be exploited by the opposition sides. Karachi need to find its mojo again What Karachi did well in the first leg of the tournament was score big and then bowl well enough to contain the opposition teams. In this leg in the three games that they have played so far, there has been a problem in both the batting and bowling and the two haven’t been able to click together. The likes of Mohammad Amir and Babar Azam, two of the most precious Kings weapons haven’t been able to fire as much as the team would have liked, especially Amir. Babar only failed in the last game but was not able to take his team home against Sultans either, even after scoring more than 80 runs. Lahore batting must fire In the four games that Lahore have played, it has been Tim David, Rashid Khan and Ben Dunk that have been able to score runs for the team, all of them overseas players. Their domestic heroes like Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez and skipper Sohail have not been able to get going and thus when both Dunk and Rashid failed in the last two games, David was not able to get his team past the target even if he wanted to. Thus senior batsmen from Lahore need to get back in the form if they are to make any amends in their fortunes and the points on the table as well. Karachi Kings vs Lahore Qalandars; Match Details Match Number- 27 Date and Time: June 17, 2021, 11: 30 pm IST, 06:00 pm GMT, 10:00 pm Local Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Live Stream and Broadcast: Sony LIV and Sony Ten Pitch Report The pitch used for this game will be the same on which two t20 matches would have been played already. Thus it would naturally have some wear and tear and help the spinners. The ball would grip the surface and change in pace by bowlers could be vital as well. Weather and Toss The weather in Abu Dhabi as usual would be hot and humid as it is in the month of June. With humidity at 58% and dew point at 23, heavy dew can be expected and thus winning the toss would naturally mean bowling first. Team News Karachi Kings Martin Guptill hasn’t been able to fire in all the three games that he has played so far. Thisara Perera really hasn’t got a real chance with all that chopping and changing and hence he deserves a chance instead of Gutill for sure. He would also provide a bowling option, badly required by the Kings. Aamer Yamin can make way for him as Danish Aziz can take up the place of Guptill. Probable XI Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Danish Aziz, Najibullah Zadran, Chadwick Walton (wk), Noor Ahmad, Imad Wasim (c), Thisara Perera, Abbas Afridi, Waqas Maqsood, Mohammad Amir Lahore Qalandars The Qalandars have played Muhammad Zaid Alam and Zeeshan Ashraf and both have failed in the two chances given to them. Now they no one else but Agha Salman the all-rounder to try, who could bat at number seven even as Dunk, Hafeez and David move up in the order. Instead of Ahmed Daniyal, who hasn’t really been able to bring any positive change in the tournament, Dilbar Hussain can be tried as well. Probable XI Fakhar Zaman, Sohail Akhtar (c), Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk (wk), Tim David, Agha Salman, Rashid Khan, James Faulkner, Dilbar Hussain, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf Dream XI / Fantasy XI Babar Azam (c), Sharjeel Khan, Najibullah Zadran, Ben Dunk (wk), Tim David, Imad Wasim, Rashid Khan, James Faulkner (vc), Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi

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Two Indian teams in two locations a permanent feature in covid ridden world: BCCI Treasurer

The Board of control for Cricket in India is not averse to having two different Indian national teams competing in two different series at different locations at the same time. BCCI Treasurer Arun Kumar Dhumal stressed upon this point saying, "It is a definite possibility that India could play another limited-overs tour with a younger squad while the main team players are playing elsewhere or need a break. The COVID-19 related restrictions also need to be factored in.” Further, the veteran administrator feels that with such a policy the strong Indian bench strength would also get the key exposure instead of warming the bench. Along with that, this move would also help those boards which are facing financial problems due to Covid. "It (two India squads) also shows the solid bench strength of the Indian team and gives us an opportunity to organise more bilateral cricket and help other boards which are facing financial challenges amid the pandemic," Dhumal was quoted as saying to PTI. "It is imperative to come up with new ideas to deal with the loss of bilateral cricket that has happened over the last 18 months," he added. The Indian board will be sending a side led by Shikhar Dhawan to play Sri Lanka in a three-match each ODI and T20I series starting July 13. All the matches would be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. While the second-string Indian side would be in Sri Lanka the main team is already in England and would be playing the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand starting June 18. The Virat Kohli led side would then play a five-match Test series against hosts England as well.

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WTC Final: Top 5 batting performances

The stage is all set for the final of the inaugural World Test Championship. India and New Zealand will lock horns with each other in the title clash scheduled to take place in Southampton from June 18. The Virat Kohli-led side marched into the WTC final in a dramatic manner. They had a dismal start to the tour DownUnder earlier and were bundled out for 36 in the first Test to go 0-1 down in the four-match series. Moreover, the regular skipper Kohli had to return back home for the birth of his first child. The Indian team then suffered some injury blows with key players like Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Hanuma Vihari, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul getting ruled out during the course of the series. The visitors were also racially abused. But the side faced all the hurdles in the most brilliant way. The youngsters took the onus on themselves and led India to a series win by 2-1. The Indian team then faced England at home and lost the first match of the four-match tie. Kohli’s troops turned the fortunes for themselves in the rest of the fixtures and eventually etched a win in the series by 3-1 margin. On the other hand, Kane Williamson’s New Zealand faced Pakistan at home and defeated them 2-0 with the captain starring for his side in the series and India’s 2-1 win against Australia was enough to make them register a berth in the final. Well, the WTC witnessed a number of incredible performances with the bat and here we bring you some fascinating knocks from the tournament that left a mark. Rishabh Pant in Australia Whenever one would talk about the Border-Gavaskar trophy and how India managed to defend it in 2021, discussion about wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant’s contribution to this victorious triumph would top the charts. The aggressive left-handed batsman produced a magic not once but twice on the Australian soil and showed why the pundits rate him so high. A few years back when Pant was bursting onto the scene, he had a tendency of going after the bowlers right from the starting and used to give away his wicket. But a little tweak in the series against Australia did wonders for this young lad. He first got his eye in and then began to play his strokes which didn’t just help him score runs but also made him play a vital part in India’s win. There were two instances where Pant showed his calibre and class. The first one came in the second Test in Sydney where he notched up 97 as India managed to end the match in a draw. India were already trailing 0-1 in the series and were handed a target of 407 runs in the second innings. After getting reduced to 102/3 with the likes of stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane and experienced opener Rohit Sharma back in the hut, the responsibility of providing the resistance to the side was on Cheteshwar Pujara and Pant. The two stitched a stand of 148 runs for the fourth wicket before Pant departed for 97. India eventually ended the proceedings at 334/5 as the match was drawn. The second instance of his brilliance came in Brisbane in the fourth and final Test. The series was levelled at 1-1 and a draw in this game would have meant that the Border-Gavaskar Trophy would remain with India as they had won it in 2018-19. But Rishabh had other plans. India were asked to chase 328 and had a disappointing start after losing Rohit early in the innings. But another youngster Shubman Gill showed his skills and chipped in with a crucial 91 and built a partnership of 114 runs for the second wicket with Pujara. While Gill’s departure saw wickets falling at regular intervals, Pant stood strong at the other end and eventually remained unbeaten at 89 to hit the winning runs for the team. India won the match by 3 wickets and wrapped up the series in their favour. Ben Stokes vs Australia (Ashes 2019) There are moments that become a nightmare for a player and then there are some events which he/she cherishes for life. England all-rounder Ben Stokes is a perfect example of how this game plays a balancing act. In the 2016 World T20 final against West Indies, Stokes was hit for four maximums by Brathwaite. England had lost yet another tournament final and Stokes was down in dismay. Cut to 2019, England were in the final of the 50-over World Cup against New Zealand at Lord’s. While England looked to be on the backfoot at one stage, Stokes’ unbeaten 84 helped them to somehow take the match in the Super Over. England eventually won the World Cup in the Super Over on the basis of boundary county, a rule that was later scrapped by the ICC. A month later, the left-handed batsman was once again writing his name in the record books. This was the third Ashes Test at Leeds between England and Australia and the hosts needed 359 to win. They have had a dismal run in the match so far after getting bowled out for 67 in the first innings and no one really expected to see what unfolded next. Chasing 359, England were reduced to 286/9 with Stokes and Jack Leach out there in the middle. The two shared a stand of 76 runs for the last wicket as the home side went on to win the match by just one wicket. Leach impressed everyone with his defence as he scored just one run in 17 balls that he faced. David Warner vs Pakistan Australia opener David Warner is the only batsman to score a triple-hundred in the World Test Championship. The left-hander achieved the feat against Pakistan the Day-Night against the Asian side in Adelaide in 2019. Batting first, the hosts put up a mammoth 589/3 (D) after Warner remained unbeaten at 335 while Marnus Labuschagne scored 162 in the first innings. Later, the Australian seamers rattled Pakistan before tai lender Yasir Shah notched up a ton during the course while Babar Azam fell short of a century by just three runs. Starc picked up six, Cummins had three wickets to his name while Hazlewood scalped one as Australia bundled out the visitors for 302 enforcing the follow-on. Nothing much changed for Pakistan in the second innings too as Nathan Lyon ripped apart their batting unit to bag a fifer. The visitors were bowled out for 239 to suffer a defeat by an innings and 48 runs. Virat Kohli vs South Africa India are simply ruthless when they play at home and this Test match against the Proteas in Pune in October 2019 was another example of something similar. Batting first, India rode on some fine piece of batting from opener Mayank Agarwal, captain Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja to post a huge total of 601/5 (D). While Agarwal scored a ton, Jadeja missed out on a century by 9 runs. But captain Kohli was in a different zone altogether. He was eyeing the ball perfectly and had precision in every stroke that he played. The right-hander notched up 254* which is also his best Test score till date before declaring the innings. Kohli’s knock of an unbeaten 254 is the third highest individual score so far in the WTC. India later bowled out South Africa for 275 and 189 in the first and second innings respectively to win the match by an innings and 137 runs. Kohli holds the record for the highest number of double-centuries in Test cricket for India. The swashbuckling batsman has seven double tons to his name. Kane Williamson vs West Indies New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is probably one of the finest batsmen across the format that world cricket has ever seen. The right-handed elegant batsman has almost every shot in his textbook that has made him a successful player at the highest level. One of Williamson’s greatest knocks ever in Test cricket came against West Indies in Hamilton in December 2020 when he struck 251. Williamson’s 251 is also the fourth highest individual score in WTC so far. The Kiwi skipper’s double-century helped his side post 519/7 (D) in the first innings while the bowlers did the job and cleaned up West Indies for 138 and 247 in the first and second innings respectively. The hosts won the match by an innings and 134 runs. While these were the top five batting performances according to us, there were few more magnificent knocks which couldn’t make it to the above tally and one of them came from Kyle Mayers. The West Indian struck 210* in the second innings against Bangladesh in Chattogram earlier this year to take his side over the line by 3 wickets. Chasing 395, West Indies were reduced to 59/3 before Mayers and Bonner joined hands and put up 216 runs for the fourth wicket to eventually win the game. Well, all said and done, India and New Zealand are all set for the summit clash that begins on Friday. You all stay with us for the live coverage of this much awaited clash and all the latest updates from the world of cricket.