How well did Indian cricketers play in the final of the ICC World Test Championship?

The ICC World Test Championship final started on Saturday after the rain washed out the first day of the match on Friday. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and invited India to bat first. Virat Kohli agreed that he would have chosen to bowl too based on the overcast conditions.

The match was called off on Day 2 after 64.4 overs of action due to bad light. However, Rohit Sharma (34) and Shubman Gill (28) successfully negated the new ball threat. They also formed a 62 runs partnership and set a platform for the next batsmen.

Cheteshwar Pujara also made some contributions with the bat and made 8 runs in 54 balls. He tried to play a defensive brand of cricket and prevented a total collapse of the Indian batting unit. Trent Boult took the wicket of Pujara with an incoming delivery that stuck his pad in front of the stumps.

After the fall of Pujara’s wicket, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane put together a 58-run partnership. Virat Kohli was the most compact player and made 44 runs. He used the depth of the crease and play the ball late to counter the swing conditions in England.

In 2000, Sourav Ganguly had made 117 runs against New Zealand

Although Ganguly made 117 runs in the ICC Knockout final, it was all in vain. Kiwi bowler Chris Cairn had an impressive knock and almost undid all of Ganguly’s hard work.

The match was held in Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi. After the toss, India chose to bat first. Sourav Ganguly captained his team from the front and scored a magnificent hundred. Moreover, he formed a 141 run opening partnership with Sachin Tendulkar. It is still the highest opening partnership for an Indian player in the ICC tournament finals.

Nevertheless, India had managed to score 264 runs at the loss of six wickets after 50 overs. Sourav Ganguly had hit nine fours and four sixes during his knock. Whereas, the Kiwi top order failed to perform and New Zealand was struggling with 132 runs at the loss of 5 wickets in 23.2 overs. But at this stage, all-rounder Chris Cairn (102* in 113 balls) came on the crease. He played an important knock to help his team easily chase the required runs. Chris Harris played a supporting role with Cairn and helped their team chase the target runs. Owing to them, New Zealand won the match in the last over. Thereby, New Zealand also won the ICC Knockout Trophy.

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