New Zealand beat India by eight wickets to win the first-ever World Test Championship at Southampton last night.
Chasing a victory target of just 139 in 53 overs, New Zealand finished on 140-2 with more than seven overs left after the match was extended into the reserve sixth day after two days’ play were completely washed out.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson unbeaten 52 runs and Ross Taylor 47 not out shared an unbroken stand of 96 to seal victory. Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took two wickets, dismissing openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway. Earlier, India were all out at 170 in their second innings on the last day yesterday.
India had scored 217 in their first innings while New Zealand had scored 249 in their first innings. This final marked end of a two-year journey to determine Test cricket’s first official world champions. Meanwhile, Veteran spinner Ashwin has become the leading wicket-taker in the World Test Championship, surpassing Pat Cummins by taking his 71st wicket.