It started with the Ashes series in 2019 and ended in 2021 with a glorious win by New Zealand, crowned as number one test team in the world. They beat second rank India in a thrilling final, threatening to be washed out by rain in England. Despite many interruptions including abandoning play on Day 1 and rain delays on Day 4, it went on for the reserved 6th day of play to get a result. It was a fantastic end to a two year league type championship.
With many tournaments abandoned or postponed in 2020 due to Covid 19 pandemic it was successfully concluded with a result to show that test cricket is still competitive. New Zealand’s recent performance in England against England in a two match test series put them as favorites coming into this test. India announced their playing XI a day in advance and choosing the two front line spinners did not seem to play any advantage their way. Two spinners had not much impact as anyone would have expected.
It was a brave decision by the Blackcaps to go with a lineup of all pace bowling and having no front line spinner. Which was a decision that attracted attention by the king of spin Shane Warne. He took to twitter with his frustration and one fan even questioned his knowledge of spin bowling. In the end New Zealand’s selection decision paid well in their way making them the winners of the world’s first test championship.
Kiwis led by the talented Kane Williamson from the front aided by some brilliant performances by Devon Conway with the bat and Kyle Jamieson by bowling proved that New Zealand has a talented bunch that can challenge any team in the test playing circle at the moment. India on the other hand had a collapse in the second innings and some sort of lower order collapse in the first innings. Led by captain Kohli and cool headed Rahane with the bat in the first innings, they did not capitalize the good starts their batsmen got.
Special mention to Mohamed Shami, what a spell he bowled in the first innings and taking four New Zealand wickets. A well deserved tally and unfortunate to fall just one short of a five wicket haul. Master class batting performance from Kane Williamson paved the way for the famous win. Falling just one run short of a fifty in the first innings denied him of scoring two half centuries in the game.
