New Zealand beat India by eight wickets in the final, at Southampton, to win the inaugural World Test Champions. India needed to defend 139, but reducing New Zealand to 44/2 was the closest they got to that. Kane Williamson (52*) and Ross Taylor (47*) ensured there was no further mishap. Williamson overturned a leg-before decision off R Ashwin (2-17) and was dropped at slip off Jasprit Bumrah, but barring that, there was little to worry about.
India needed early wickets, and it took Ashwin’s brilliance to provide them with that. He had Tom Latham (9) stranded halfway down the pitch and stumped and beat Devon Conway (19) in flight and trapped him leg-before, and came close to striking on a couple of other instances. However, barring a brief pre-tea burst from Mohammed Shami, Ashwin’s teammates never looked threatening enough.
Earlier, India were bowled out for 170. They had resumed on 64/2, and would probably have had to bat about 60 overs on Day 6 to ensure a draw. They managed just 43. Virat Kohli (13) went early, poking at one that – on another day – he would have left alone. Cheteshwar Pujara (15), sized up by two balls that came in, held his bat and edged at one that left him.
Kyle Jamieson got both men in the space of five balls. He finished with 24-10-30-2, which gave him fantastic match figures of 46-22-61-7. That, combined with a breezy cameo, won him the Player of the Match award.
India almost had another setback when Rishabh Pant (41) was dropped at slip by Tim Southee (4-48) off Jamieson. Pant, on 5 at that point, dug in thereafter, adding 37 with Ajinkya Rahane (15) and 33 with Ravindra Jadeja (16). Rahane eventually edged a leg glance off Trent Boult (3-39) to BJ Watling, while Neil Wagner (1-44) had Jadeja caught behind.
Pant and Ashwin (7) did not attempt to exercise additional caution. Pant eventually went for a heave against Boult, sliced it, and Henry Nicholls ran back from the slips to take a well-judged catch. Two balls later, an edge off Ashwin’s expansive drive went to Taylor at slip.
Shami’s adventurous 13 came to an end when he top edged a slog. Having conceded a boundary over slips, Williamson had already posted Latham at fly slip. The catch went to him. Four balls later, Southee cleaned up Jasprit Bumrah, who had a pair and no wicket.
Brief scores
India 217 (Ajinkya Rahane 49; Kyle Jamieson 5-31) and 170 (Rishabh Pant 41; Tim Southee 4-48) lost to New Zealand 249 (Kane Williamson 49; Mohammed Shami 4-76) and 140/2 (Kane Williamson 52*; R Ashwin 2-17) by 8 wickets. Player of the Match: Kyle Jamieson.