New Zealand Wins the ICC Mace Beating India

“India’s revered superstars failed to dazzle on ‘D-Day’ as New Zealand’s canny operators and their classy skipper Kane Williamson deservingly walked away with the inaugural World Test Championship title after a composed eight-wicket win in the final that exposed multiple frailties in Virat Kohli’s team,” The Times of India reported.

“[New Zealand’s] bowlers choked India, who seemed to be in pursuit of a draw to lay their hands on the glittering mace.

“Williamson’s pacers completely rejected their idea and ensured that a World Cup had one winner and the deserving one at that.”

Meanwhile, The Guardian’s Ali Martin wrote from Southampton’s Ageas Bowl:

“The huge gulf in population between the two countries – five million compared with 1.4 billion – is perhaps overplayed, but with around a sixth of India’s professional talent pool and annual revenues that sit on a par with a county cricket club such as Warwickshire, New Zealand’s rise is still remarkable,” Martin wrote.

“Like BJ Watling, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult et al, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor have been central pillars to all this. It felt fitting, therefore, that this much-admired pair should come together for an unbroken stand of 96 and be there at the end of a long but rewarding final.”

Original article by The Times of India, June 23, 2021.