Pant's approach of dealing with the New Zealand attack was better than just being in the shell, something that did more harm than good for Cheteshwar Pujara (15 off 80 balls). He got Wagner to come round the wicket to Jadeja and the left-arm "pounder" went wide enough to nearly cut the side crease and angled one for Jadeja to nick it behind the stumps. Pant's dismissal did hamper India's chances but before that an inspirational piece of captaincy from Williamson left an indelible mark.
The catch that Henry Nicholls took while running backwards was as good as one would witness at this level. Pant fought for two and half hours for his 41 but it was more intent and less content as a cavalier devil may care approach didn't get him too many runs. Tim Southee (4/48) did the early damage with his swing bowling, Neil Wagner (1/44) bowled those hard "rib cage" overs coming round the stumps and Trent Boult (3/44), with his ability to bring it back into the left-hander, made for a brilliant few hours of Test cricket.Īnd then there was India's nemesis Kyle Jamieson (2/30), who got his "bunny" Kohli third time in three Tests and twice in one to put the icing on the cake. Williamson is probably one of the few captains who have now got the Indian team out for less than 250 in six consecutive innings, a testimony to his brilliant cricketing acumen and near the perfect execution of plans by his bowlers. It was one of the worst batting performances on a good track with sun beating down. When India batted, it was only Rishabh Pant (41), who was ready to live and die by the sword while his seniors found it difficult to play the game of survival against the canniest of pace attacks.īy tea, India had another batting disaster with only 170 runs in their second innings leaving New Zealand with a target that they were expected to chase. Significant dates! ✍🏽 #WTC21 #BACKTHEBLACKCAPS /kjwxzqfOTX Mahendra Singh Dhoni is worshipped because of three ICC trophies and it was ironical that India's abject surrender happened on the same date on which the revered former skipper won the Champions Trophy in the same country eight summers back. He might just have one more shot, which is the T20 World Cup this year, and failing to win that could warrant some changes in the team hierarchy. Williamson's pacers completely rejected their idea and ensured that a World Cup had one winner and the deserving one at that.įor Kohli, this is the third failure in big ICC events after the 2017 Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup. That was not to be the case on Wednesday when their bowlers choked India, who seemed to be in pursuit of a draw to lay their hands on the glittering mace. Perhaps the cricket Gods wanted a course correction for Williamson and his men, who were left high and dry during that evening at the Lord's where twist of cruel fate and horrible rules robbed them off deserving glory in the 2019 World Cup. Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's two early wickets raised hopes of a twist in the tale but Williamson and Taylor doused them one patient stroke at a time. There was the trademark serene smile on his face which widened following a hug from his mate Ross Taylor (47 not out) in a very low-key celebration for a team that is high-profile in its own right. New Zealand players celebrate their win in the World Test Championship final.
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