ICC World Test Championship Final 2021
Tags: ICC World Test Championship Final 2021, India, New Zealand, India vs New Zealand, Final at Southampton, Jun 18-22, 2021, Kane Stuart Williamson
Published on: Jun 29, 2021
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New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has opined that India had a “fair shot” at winning the World Test Championship (WTC) final going into the last day in Southampton. India were 64 for 2 going into the Reserve Day of the WTC final. However, they lost Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara on the final day, and ended up folding for 170
New Zealand legends Williamson (52 not out) and Ross Taylor (47 not out) then guided the Kiwis home to an eight-wicket victory as the Black Caps created history by chasing down a target of 139. Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed the Kiwi openers cheaply, but Williamson and Taylor were involved in an unbroken 96-run stand for the third wicket and took New Zealand home.
In an exclusive interview with India Today, Williamson looked back at the last day’s play in the WTC final. He said, “For us it was very much going in the day, expecting every result was realistic and trying to do as well as we could. Nothing different from the last few days and see how games unfurl and opportunity arises. It was great to take early wickets on that, that set up more chances of result on that day. India team counter-attacked after that, India had a fair shot too. Surface was offering to bowlers. It was intense for us.”
The WTC final was New Zealand’s first ICC title win since lifting the ICC Champions Trophy in 2000 under Stephen Fleming. The Kiwis had defeated India to win the crown back then as well.
In the interview, Williamson also opened up on the warm hug with Indian captain Virat Kohli, the picture of which went viral on social media. Speaking about the mutual admiration between him and Kohli, Williamson added, “Virat and I have known each other for a long time and we are mates. It’s always a great part of sports as you get the opportunity to meet people all around the world and form different friendships. Different experiences that you have either together or against each other. And often you find a bit of common ground and share a few common interests.”
Praising Williamson and New Zealand after their WTC triumph, Kohli had said, “Big congratulations to Kane and the whole team. They showed great consistency and heart to pull out a result in just over three days, sticking to their processes to put us under pressure. They deserved the win.”
–By A Cricket Correspondent
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