Vaughan backs NZ in final

Former England captain Michael Vaughan tips Kane Williamson to outscore Virat Kohli in England, and the Black Caps to be too strong for India in next month’s World Test Championship final.

Vaughan, a guest on Spark Sport’s The Show Downstairs previewing the England tour, rated New Zealand clear favourites to win the inaugural WTC decider at Southampton, starting on June 18.

‘‘English conditions, the Duke ball, and India on the back of a busy schedule . . . they’ll arrive pretty much a week before and go straight into it, [and] New Zealand have two test matches, you could argue warmups against England to get them prepared for the final,’’ Vaughan said.

‘‘So it’s quite an obvious one for me, New Zealand will be better prepared and they’ll have more of a group of players who’ve played more cricket with the red ball, particularly the Duke ball here in the UK. New Zealand, all the way.’’

Coach Gary Stead and 15 of his 20-man test squad leave for England on May 15 after two camps at Lincoln, near Christchurch. They will join Williamson, Kyle Jamieson, Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner who will soon fly to England after the IPL was suspended, and Will Young, who is playing for Durham.

The Black Caps face England in two tests at Lord’s starting June 2, and Edgbaston starting June 10.

The Williamson versus Kohli duel will be fascinating, with the Black Caps skipper rated the world’s top test batsmen and India’s captain ranked fifth behind Williamson, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and England skipper Joe Root.

Asked to compare the duo in English conditions, Vaughan said: ‘‘If Kane Williamson was Indian, he’d be the greatest player in the world, but he’s not because you’re not allowed to say that Virat Kohli is not the greatest, because you’d get an absolute pelting on social media.

‘‘I think Kane Williamson is up there with the great players across the three formats and he certainly matches Virat Kohli. It’s just he doesn’t have the 100 million followers on Instagram and doesn’t earn the $30-40 million or whatever Virat gets every year for his commercial endorsements.

‘‘But in terms of quality and what he brings on the pitch and his consistency I wouldn’t back against Kane Williamson getting more runs.’’