New Zealand were well-prepared for India in WTC finale

By Rahul Banerji

India’s eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand at Southampton in the final of the inaugural World Test Championship on Wednesday was ultimately a surrender.

While the result certainly was the culmination of excellent cricket from Kane Williamson’s men, the margin of defeat served to underline the difference between the two teams.

With more than a full day lost to rain, the final was extended into a reserve day and the Kiwis, led superbly by their inspirational captain emerged much the better-rounded and better-equipped team.

From the outset, selection reflected a differing understanding of prevailing conditions at the Ageas Bowl. The Kiwis went in with an all-seam attack while India opted for their two front-line spinners.

That in turn forced the India captain and coach’s hand into into a 5-1-5 spread, five batsmen, a wicket-keeper and five bowlers. New Zealand had an all-round option, India did not.

With rain forecast for practically every day, the two-spinner option will remain yet another selectorial mystery, along the lines of the disastrous experiment of the 2019 World Cup.

Both these odd decisions on the team composition – in International Cricket Council event – came interestingly enough in England.

Under pressure

Asked to bat first, India were restricted to 217 with Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, contributing 44 and 49 respectively after openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill had given them a sound start.

New Zealand’s quicks however kept India under check, picking up wickets at regular intervals especially the towering Kyle Jamieson who was most impressive in both innings.

New Zealand took a narrow lead with the tail helping put on a crucial 80-plus runs as Ishant Sharm and Mohammad Shami took seven of the 10 first innings wickets.

India’s batting thereafter proved unable to counter the Kiwi pacemen a second time around abdthere were simply not enough runs to halt a determined New Zealand in the final innings.

Williamson led from the front in a tense 139-run chase even though there were plenty of overs available.

With Ross Taylor, the Kiwi captain put on an unbeaten 96 runs to seal a well-deserved win for the world’s second ranked team.

Throughout the final, Kohli’s team were unable to recapture the grit they had displayed in reaching the pinnacle of Test competition, especially during the historic series win in Australia late last year

Both India and New Zealand took similar routes to the WTC finale, dominating their opponents with minor hiccups on the way.

Impressive run

India, on top of the ICC Test rankings since 2017, continued that form into the WTC qualifiers.

Kohli’s team finished the league with 520 points from a possible maximum of 720 points to take the top spot while the Kiwis aggregated 420 points from their campaign.

India scored series wins over the West Indies, South Africa and Bangladesh in 2019 before stumbling to defeat against New Zealand in 2020.

With the ICC changing qualification rules and bringing in percentage points, India needed to win their last two remaining series to enter the WTC final.

They started badly in Australia in 2020, bowled out for 36 in the first Test defeat at Adelaide but fought back superbly to first level, and then win the series against all odds.

One further defeat followed, in the first Test of the home series against England, but a 3-1 overall result ensured their place in the final for which New Zealand had already qualified.

The Kiwis started their WTC campaign in uncertain fashion, held to a 1-1 series draw in Sri Lanka and then thrashed 3-0 by Australia.

Beating India at home however, revived their fortunes and they remained unbeaten thereafter. Till the very end.

Leading the way

Along the way New Zealand beat the West Indies with Williamson striking remarkable form. In fact, his run-scoring and the team’s success went hand in hand right till the finale.

New Zealand beat Pakistan at home and then England just days before the final, meaning they came into the Southampton match well-prepared and familiarised with English conditions.

India were not just outplayed, they were out-thought from the very outset.

Inevitably, questions will be raised about the fact that this is a fifth Indian defeat in crucial knockout matches starting with the 2014 World T20 final.

Over the next five years, India would face defeat in two 50-over World Cup semi-finals (2015 and 2019), the 2016 World T20 semi-final, the 2017 Champions Trophy final and now the WTC final.

While there are no quick solutions to what is obviously a long-running problem, the Southampton result has clearly demonstrated that the time to act is well past.

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