World media in awe of Kiwi cricketers
‘‘Awesome and understated.’’
That is how the Black Caps have been described by overseas media following their test series demolition of Pakistan, which saw New Zealand scale to the top of ICC’s test rankings for the first time in the country’s history.
The Black Caps’ rise to world No 1 has made waves overseas, with the international media wondering how New Zealand managed to leapfrog Australia, England and India with a population smaller than Sydney, London and Mumbai.
‘‘Turn on your television in the evening in the UK and you can see grass banks full of roaming fans at beautiful grounds in New Zealand, as Kane Williamson’s awesome and understated team – now officially the best in the world
– go about their merry business, defying the game’s financial inequalities to uncover new players (Kyle Jamieson is the latest star) and beat all-comers,’’ the Evening Standard wrote on the back on the Black Caps’ stunning innings and 176-run win against Pakistan in Christchurch on Wednesday.
The Guardian singled out captain Williamson for his major contributions with the bat throughout the two most recent series against the West Indies and Pakistan.
‘‘Anyone who has been paying attention will have found the mornings have begun to feel a little repetitive this winter: roll over, grab the phone, skip through the news to the cricket scores, and find that somewhere over the other side of the world Williamson has rattled off another hundred,’’ it wrote.
‘‘In the past five weeks, he has scored
251 in his only test against West Indies,
129 in the first test against Pakistan, and
238 in the second. In between all this, he also became a father for the first time, and managed to fit in a spell of paternity leave.’’
ESPN Cricinfo produced a video charting New Zealand’s rise to the top of the ICC test rankings. It began pointing out the country’s population is smaller than Sydney, London and Mumbai.
‘‘A small country with a financially struggling board who play much less test cricket than they would like have managed to become No. 1 in the format,’’ it said. ‘‘ New Zealand has a tiny population and limited resources, which makes their ascent remarkable.’’