Eng vs NZ: The final match of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is to be played between India and New Zealand in Southampton from June 18, but before that New Zealand defeated England 1-0 in the two-Test series at their home. Alarm bells have been rung for. New Zealand clinched the series by winning the second and final Test here on the fourth day by eight wickets in the first hour on Sunday.
With this win, New Zealand’s team also reached the top spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings with 123 points. At the same time, the Indian team has now slipped to second place with 121 points. This is a big setback for the Indian team mentally before the World Test Championship. This is the reason that the morale of the Kiwi team has also won before the title clash.
The England team, which was trailing by 85 runs in the first innings, was bundled out for just 122 runs in the second innings. This is his lowest score against New Zealand at home. For the England team, Mark Wood, who came out to bat at number nine, scored the highest 29 runs. For New Zealand, Man of the Match Matt Henry and Neil Wagner took three wickets for 36 and 18 runs respectively, while Trent Boult and Ajaz Patel took two wickets each.
New Zealand got the target of 38 runs which they achieved in 10.5 overs after losing the wickets of Devon Conway (03) and Will Young (08). Captain Tom Latham remained unbeaten on 23. England’s team came out to play 122 for nine in the second innings on the fourth day. Boult ended the hosts’ innings on the very first ball of the day by getting Ollie Stone (15) caught by wicketkeeper Tom Blundell.
Chasing the target, New Zealand lost the wicket of Conway in the second over, who was caught behind the wicket by Stuart Broad. Stone bowled Will Young. However, captain Tom Latham remained at one end and he hit two fours on Wood to give his team victory. After 22 years, New Zealand defeated England in their home Test series. Earlier, New Zealand had defeated England in Test series on their soil in 1986 and 1999 as well.
After 7 years, England has lost the home Test series. Earlier, it was defeated by Sri Lanka 1-0 in 2014. With this win, New Zealand has also gained in the ICC Test rankings and the team has become number one in the ICC Test rankings with 123 points. If the Indian team wins the final match of the World Test Championship, then it can regain the number one chair.