The Black Caps’ long, winding road
It took seven wins in 18 months, a change of format, and an Australian blunder to set up the WTC decider. Andrew Voerman explains.
The Black Caps are playing the biggest test match in their 91-year history that started overnight at the Ageas Bowl at Southampton.
It’s very much a David-andGoliath battle in the inaugural World Test Championship final, with India their opponents – a nation of 5 million taking on a nation of 1.4 billion.
But while they may be countries with vastly different populations, they have consistently been the top two teams in the world for a long period of time.
And this is how they came to be the top two in the inaugural cycle of the World Test Championship, which began in August, 2019.
It started in Sri Lanka
Long before anyone was truly captivated by the World Test Championship, the Black Caps picked up a crucial win in Colombo in their first series in Sri Lanka in seven years.
After losing the first test in Galle by six wickets when the hosts chased down 268 to win, the Black Caps bounced back in the second, with Tom Latham making 154 and BJ Watling making an unbeaten 105 as they posted 431-6 in between bowling Sri Lanka out for 244 and 122 in a match hit hard by rain.
With their series in Bangladesh in August 2020 cancelled as a result of Covid-19 pandemic, this ended up being the Black Caps’ only away win in the two-year cycle, where each team was originally scheduled to play six series – three at home and three away.
Introducing Kyle Jamieson
It was somewhat of a surprise when Kyle Jamieson was summoned to join the Black Caps on their miserable tour of Australia in the 2019-20 summer, as the sixth choice seamer after Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry.
He didn’t play as they were swept 3-0 by Tim Paine and co, but with Wagner missing the first test against India back at home with a baby on the way, he was handed his test debut and instantly impressed by taking 4-39 in the first innings, including the wicket of Virat Kohli, then making 44 with the bat in a 10-wicket win at the Basin Reserve.
Wagner returned for the second test at Hagley Oval, but Jamieson retained his place, in the first
A simple equation
The World Test Championship largely sat in the background until last December, when the Black Caps began a run of four tests in five weeks on home soil against the West Indies and Pakistan.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Cricket Council moved from looking at teams’ raw points totals to looking at the percentage of points they had won, opening the door for the Black Caps further than it had been previously.
As far as they were concerned, they needed four wins from four, which would mean they would finish with 70 per cent of their possible points. After that, their fate would be in the hands of Australia, England and India, two of whom would need to do worse in order for them to make it.
Woeful West Indies
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson became the first star of the summer, playing one of his greatest innings in compiling 251 to set his side up for an innings win against the West Indies at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
The skipper then missed the second test at the Basin Reserve, as he returned to his Mount Maunganui home to be present for the birth of his first child, but in his absence, Henry Nicholls stepped up – and rode his luck – in making 174, easing worries about his form that had been growing.
Southee then took 5-35 and Jamieson 5-34 in the first innings, while all four of the seamers chipped in as they enforced the follow on then won by an innings for the second test in a row.
Thrilling win at Bay Oval
Mitchell Santner will have to watch the World Test Championship final from afar after he missed out on a place in the Black Caps’ 15-man squad.
But he can take pride in the fact that he played a massive hand – literally – in getting them there.
The Black Caps’ went into the final session of the Boxing Day test against Pakistan at Bay Oval still needing six wickets to win and keep their hopes of making the final alive, but with five overs to go, they had picked up five, thanks largely to marathon spells from Wagner, bowling with two broken toes, and Jamieson.
Santner had chipped in too and was brought back in to bowl the fifth-to-last over and when Naseem Shah hit the ball straight back to him, he leapt high and snatched it out of the air, then was mobbed by his team-mates as they celebrated a thrilling win.
Their part done
On a high after their last-gasp win in Mount Maunganui, the Black Caps went down to Christchurch to welcome in the new year, then turned in their most dominant performance of the summer.
Williamson (238) and Nicholls (157) – batting for a long period with a calf strain – shared in a 369-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Daryl Mitchell made a quickfire 102 not out as they posted 659-6 in reply to Pakistan’s 297.
Jamieson capped off a remarkable home run by taking 5-69 and 6-48 as Pakistan were dismissed again for 186 and the Black Caps completed a record sixth win in a row.
And to top things off, the 2-0 series win also moved them to the top of the world rankings for the first time, less than five years after they had been down at No7, and eight after they had been as low as No8.
Australia’s over rate woes
It is easy to forget that if the World Test Championship ladder had been arranged only by results on the field, it would be India and Australia facing off in
Southampton, for the fifth time in six months.
It’s only because Australia were penalised for a poor over rate in the second test of their series against India during the summer down under, that the Black Caps were able to pip their trans-Tasman rivals into second place.
No-one thought too much of the punishment at the time, as Australia had another five tests scheduled after that one at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before the standings would be finalised.
But as it turned out, that didn’t prove to be the case, and the four points Tim Paine’s side were docked made all the difference in the final analysis.
History at the Gabba
With their part in things over, the Black Caps had four series left to worry about – India’s four-test tour of Australia, which had started before Christmas; Australia’s tour of South Africa, which was yet to be officially locked in; and England’s tours of Sri Lanka and India.
India and Australia started their third test at the Sydney Cricket Ground soon after the Black Caps wrapped things up in Christchurch, with the series tied at one win apiece, but that match ended in draw, with the visitors batting out the final day and the hosts getting frustrated at their lack of success.
So it was off to the Gabba in Brisbane, where Australia hadn’t lost for 31 tests stretching back to 1988. Heading into the final day, it was a familiar story, with India needing 324 runs for an unlikely win, and Australia needing 10 wickets.
Opener Shubman Gill then made 91, setting the stage for Rishabh Pant to come in and blast an unbeaten 89, with support from debutant Washington Sundar, who made 22 as they chased their target down with three overs to spare and reset the clock on one of Australia’s most cherished records.
Out of their hands
As India winged their way home from Brisbane, the Black Caps’ focus turned to Australia’s forthcoming tour of South Africa, where they needed the hosts to win at least one of three tests.
But in the end, that tour never went ahead, with Australia pulling out, citing unacceptable health and safety risks amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, so in early February the Black Caps were in.
Australia remained alive despite the cancellation, but needed India to slip up against England at home, and while the hosts were stunned in the first test, which kept their opponents’ own faint hopes alive, they won the three that followed to finish top of the table and book their spot, setting the stage for the final showdown, which was scheduled to start at 9.30pm (NZT) last night.