WTC win meant a lot to us says retired wicket-keeper batsman BJ Watling
WTC Final | It's a very special feeling: Williamson after NZ's winning triumph
WTC Final | 'Ecstatic' BJ Watling walks away from international cricket with 'special' achievement
Tim Southee relishes 'rewarding' World Test Championship triumph after years of hard work
One of the chief architects of New Zealand’s rise to the top of the world in Test cricket, Tim Southee called winning the World Test Championship final a ‘rewarding’ result for all the hard work put in by the side over the last couple of years. “Yes, sounds pretty good. Two years ago we started this journey and winning the WTC is regarding all the hard work,” Southee told official broadcaster Star Sports. Pointing out what made New Zealand a competitive side in the WTC cycle that began in 2019, Southee said that the Blackcaps made a habit of not giving up at any stage, and the team management adopted a consistency in team selection while players repaid the faith with consistency in performances. “I think consistency is the key. Consistency through selection, consistency through performances, never giving up. Satisfying to be able to sit back and see what we have achieved in the last two years. Pretty special feeling this,” Southee added. New Zealand were given a target of 139 runs which could have been a tricky target to chase if not for the experience of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson and Southee said that the duo settled things down in the New Zealand dressing room. “Yes, the change room is a lot calmer with two experienced guys out there. Once they got in, it was probably the longest 140 runs we have ever experienced but ut was nice to have two experienced guys in the middle to do the job,” Southee said. Southee also credited BJ Watling for an outstanding career at the international level and said that his behaviour throughout the course of his career epitomises New Zealand’s team culture. "His behaviour best sums up what this team means for and one of our champion bloke, champion cricketer going on a high,” Southee reckoned. New Zealand’s win over India in the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship will serve as a great sense of pride among their fans after a heartbreaking loss in the final of the ODI World Cup two years back.
WTC final | BJ Watling dislocates finger, but carries on wicketkeeping on final day of Test career
Perfectly epitomising what his role has been for New Zealand cricket over the entire length of his Test career, BJ Watling carried on keeping the wickets even after dislocating a finger on his right hand on the final day of the World Test Championship final against India. He was hurt on his hand by a Kane Williamson’s throw when Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant tried to steal a single in the second half of the first session on the final day. New Zealand had India in deep trouble with the wickets of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara early on in the day before Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant steadied the ship. However, the partnership could not last longer as Rahane was dismissed strangled down the leg side off Trent Boult to leave India reeling under pressure. Kyle Jamieson, who took a five-wicket haul in the first innings continued to be the star performer for the Blackcaps with the wickets of both Kohli and Pujara on deliveries outside off stump. Kohli was worried about the balls nipping back to him and edged one behind to BJ Watling while Pujara, too, was dismissed in a rare manner of poking outside his off stump. India had conceded a lead of 32 runs in the first innings which has turned out to be a detrimental factor in their progress on the final day of the big final.
Top New Zealand, India players open up on significance of Test cricket
As the Test cricket reaches its pinnacle with the World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand, the lynchpins of those two squads who made valiant efforts to take their team to the big final have opened up the value and relevance of the format. From India’s side, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma voiced their opinion on what makes Test cricket a lot more different and difficult challenge. On the other hand, from the Blackcaps side, BJ Watling, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Henry Nicholls, Collin de Grandhomme opened up about what Test cricket means to them and how does the format asks different questions all the time. The World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand is nicely poised at New Zealand batting strongly in reply to India’s 217 in the first innings. However, the persistent bad weather has curtailed and dictated the flow of the game more than any other factors.
WTC final | Day 1: Rain washes away first day's play
In a huge disappointment to the fans who were waiting for the action to begin in the World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand, the rain has played a spoilsport and the first day has been washed out completely. To compensate for the loss of play on the first day, the play will begin at the scheduled time at 3 pm IST (10:30 am local). Since the WTC final also has a reserve day marked to cover loss of play such as these, the match would not be started half an hour early, a practice is more popular in Test matches. Rain was always expected to hamper the big clash between the top two sides as the weather prediction was suggesting thunderstorm across all days of the Test match but the abandonment of the very first day without a ball being bowled left all disappointed. India have already announced their playing XI for the clash and have included both the spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin along with the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami. On the other hand, New Zealand have picked Ajaz Patel over Mitchell Santner in the 15-man squad along with Kane Williamson, BJ Watling, Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson, who were rested or missed the second Test of the series against England.
Pumped to be in the WTC final: BJ Watling
New Zealand wicket-keeper BJ Watling will be featuring in his final Test when he takes the field in the final of the inaugural World Test Championship against India. Watling has said that he is excited about the match and just wants to take it as just another game. “I’m just looking forward to playing another test match. It is an exciting one, and I’m certainly pretty pumped to be in the final. I’m just going into it how I do with every other test going through the processes of trying to win a test match,” the 35-year-old was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz. “I’ve certainly enjoyed the time I have spent with this team playing cricket for New Zealand. It’s been a hell of a journey,” he added. New Zealand will lock horns with Virat Kohli’s India in Southampton beginning on June 18. Talking about the final, Watling said that it is a massive opportunity and the side would look to continue the form. “It’s obviously a massive opportunity to win a title, but I think what we’ve been doing leading into this, winning the games at home this summer, and then obviously winning a test series against England, it’s certainly been fantastic,” he said. “We’ll try and do our best and try to carry on the form that we’ve been playing in for a reasonably long period,” Watling added. The Blackcaps are coming into the title clash with a 1-0 win in two-match Test series against England away from home.
ENG vs NZ | 2nd Test: Defiant Rory Burns-Dan Lawrence help hosts survive Boult, Henry's swing storm
Fighting half-centuries from Rory Burns and Daniel Lawrence saved the day for England on the first day of the second Test at Edgbaston after even a New Zealand attack without Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson put the hosts under enormous pressure. The new-ball pair of Matt Henry and a returning man Trent Boult found a considerable amount of swing in the first session after Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat first. The swing was on offer due to overcast conditions but both the English openers Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley bated with immense control to defy all the Blackcaps bowlers in the first session. The tourists, however, never went away and came back strongly right after the lunch interval when Henry got Sibley to edge on behind the wicket for Tom Blundell with the gloves. There was no let-up for the hosts since then as a skilful Neil Wagner played with the mind of an out-of-knick Zak Crawley and sent him back to the pavilion edging to third slip. England hopes were on the shoulders of skipper Root and an in-form batsman in the form of Rory Burns. Henry was getting a lot of movement in the air and an indecisive Joe Root was sent before he could get his eyes in. With three down under 100, Burns and Ollie Pope started batting freely and put the balls into gaps to keep the scoreboard going. Pope, in particular, was very proactive in his strokes and got England on a roll. However, his eagerness to go for runs cost him his wicket when he attempted to hit a short delivery off Aizaj Patel a little too hard. Rory Burns and Lawrence took England to the tea interval but Trent Boult was hungry for success and he got the biggest scalp for his side by luring Burns into a drive on the up. Burns was caught intelligently by skipper Tom Latham but Boult had in him something extra and he repeated the modus operandi to send James Bracey for another duck in his two-match long Test career. Both those dismissals have been the hallmark of the New Zealand bowling attack over the years and Latham was lucky to have at least Boult while Southee was rested for the bigger clash of the World Test Championship final against India. Lawrence, too, was tested on all accounts by all New Zealand pacers but after a stuttering start, he settled into his role perfectly. He led the England fight back, first in the company of Olly Stone and followed it up with another unbeaten partnership with Mark Wood to prevent England from getting bundled out at a sub-par score. For New Zealand, it was a near-perfect day apart from the first session where bowlers were a bit short and wide that allowed English openers to leave alone a lot of deliveries. However, they more than made up for it in the afternoon session. However, they would be a tad disappointed letting England off the hook once again and back the bowlers to wrap up things quickly on the second morning of the Test.
Devon Conway breaks many, establish some records on his way to double ton on Test debut
New Zealand broke many records on his way to a brilliant double hundred on his Test debut at Lord’s against England. He walked out open the innings along with Tom Latham and was the last man to be dismissed in a run out after betting flawlessly for one and a half-day. He became only the seventh batsman in international cricket and second among New Zealand batsmen to score a double ton on Test debut after Matthew Sinclair’s double hundred against West Indies on debut in 1999-00. He became the most successful debutant in Test matches in England by beating the previous best score of 154 runs by K Ranjitsinhji. He also became the first batsman to score a double hundred at Lord’s on debut and beat the previous highest score by Sourav Ganguly, who had scored 131 on his Test debut at the Home of Cricket in 1996. Among New Zealand batsmen, Conway went on to become the 12th batsman and the fifth batsman while opening the batting to score a three-figure score on debut. He also beat the previous record of highest run by a New Zealand opener in England when he went past the 121-run mark on the first day of the Test. Also, he came second just by one run from the highest score by an opener on debut by Brendon Kuruppu, who had scored 201 not out against New Zealand in 1987. He also became the highest run-scorer on Test debut against England beating 176 by George Headley in Bridgetown in 1930. He also trumped his compatriot Hamish Rutherford who too had a blistering debut against England in Dunedin in the 2012-13 season. Also, he is just the fourth Kiwi batsman to score a double hundred against England other than Martin Donnelly, Nathan Astle and BJ Watling. Conway was played over Tom Blundell in the playing XI who too had scored a century on Test debut and the team management would be ecstatic the left-hander ratified their call with a superb double hundred that may well put New Zealand in a commanding position in the first Test of the series.
ENG vs NZ | 1st Test Day 2: Rory Burns-Joe Root stabilise hosts after Conway's historic double ton
A solid half-century from Rory Burns and an equal in control innings from Joe Root stabilised England at the end of the second day’s play at Lord’s. Burns batted with assured footwork and awareness about his off stump and showed signs of coming back to his best at the international stage after a slump in the winter overseas. Joe Root found himself in the middle yet again with the opener Dom Sibley and the number three Zak Crawley going back to the pavilion fairly early in the piece but he provided his side with a much-needed calm head. Sibley could not recover from the slump and was undone by a nip backer from Kyle Jamieson, who was sharing the new ball with Tim Southee in the absence of Trent Boult. Crawley, on the other hand, was drawn into driving a fuller ball that was not pitched in his half from Southee in a manner that former England skipper and now a notable voice of the game Michael Atherton termed as ‘intelligent bowling but naive batting.’ Burns was up to the task from the word go and having scored a decent amount of runs in the county championship leading up to this Test was clearly visible in his confident front foot strides against Southee and Jamieson. As innings progressed and he grew in confidence, he took on the short ball off Neil Wagner as well. New Zealand bowlers were there and thereabouts but and asked continuous questions of English batsmen. The day though once again belonged to Devon Conway, who went from strength to strength and converted his hundred on Test debut to a double hundred with an equally disciplined display of batting around the off stump and flair against balls he believed he could latch on to. The day started on a dream note for the Blackcaps as the unbeaten pair of Conway and Henry Nicholls carried on from where they had left on the last day. Nicholls was as watchful as he was on the first day and reached an attritional half-century before Mark Wood brought England back with a superlative display of pace bowling. He first sent Nicholls back to the pavilion on a rising short delivery that beat him for pace while attempting to glide it between the fine leg and square leg fielder. He followed it up with a classical full-pitched at pace delivery that found BJ Watling playing from the crease and New Zealand looked shaky after a formidable start to the day. Ollie Robinson joined in the party trapping Collin de Grandhomme in front of the wicket and bouncing out the tall man Jamieson with a well-laid trap set in cohesion with Joe Root. Conway needed someone to stick around with him and he found a partner in Wagner but he was not defensive by any means. He played some crisp shots that beat some of Conway’s shots as well and a drive on the up off Stuart Broad for six was all that the bowler required to realise the first bowling effort of the summer has not gone well at all. At the end of the second day, the game is perfectly poised and the first two sessions tomorrow should dictate the flow of the game and should also decide which side will take their noses ahead in the first Test of the English summer.
WTC Final: BJ Watling will be sorely missed feels Neil Wagner
New Zealand quick Neil Wagner who is in England along with the national side for a three-match Test sojourn including the World Test Championship Final against India will miss wicket-keeper batsman BJ Watling who has announced his retirement from international cricket after the England tour. "He's a top man and will be sorely missed in this team. He's the glue and the gel of the team and has been around for a long time now," Wagner said about his teammate from New Zealand. Watling, 36, would be leaving behind a legacy where he turned out to be the saviour for the Blackcaps on many occasions, including the brilliant double hundred at Mount Maunganui against a touring England in 2019. Wagner, who himself is in the twilight of his career feels that Watling has been one of the great servants of the game and his go-to man in times of crisis. "I've always appreciated his honesty. He's one of the guys who put me back in line if need be but will also encourage you and pick you up on the tough days. He's always been there for me, whether for plans or ideas. No matter how tired he is, he will sprint from the keeping side, run all the way to your mark to have a chat with you with a couple of plans,” said the 35-year-old Otago Volts man. “He's been a class performer for this team and he's always seen to be the guy that has done the nitty-gritty sort of stuff well and encourages people like myself and everyone around the team," added Wagner while at the same time not wishing for his wicket-keeper batsman to once again come good at the showpiece event the WTC Final. But before the WTC Final at Southampton starting June 18, both Wagner and Boult would be up against England in a two-match Test series, starting Jun2 at Lord’s.
New Zealand players arriving in bunches for England Test series, WTC final against India
The first group of New Zealand players have arrived in England for the upcoming two-match series against the hosts and the World Test Championship final against India. They arrived at Heathrow airport in London and will be transferred to Southampton for a two-week period. The second bunch of players from New Zealand that includes Ross Taylor, Tim Southee, BJ Watling and Neil Wagner will leave from Auckland on Monday, May 17 to regroup with the squad in Southampton. The third bunch of Blackcaps players who were there at the IPL will reach England on May 17 from Maldives. This bunch includes captain Kane Williamson, Kyle Jamieson, Mitchell Santner, team physio Tommy Simsek and trainer Chris Donaldson. Trent Boult, who was there at the IPL 2021 for the Mumbai Indians had decided to see his family in New Zealand before travelling to the UK and hence he will be the last man to join the Blackcaps squad in England and may well miss the entire series against England. The Blackcaps have a hree-day team intra-squad game scheduled from Wednesday, May 26 to Friday, May 28 at the Ageas Bowl, to prepare for the Test series and WTC final. BLACKCAPS Test Squad for England Kane Williamson ©, Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Will Young
Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips two new faces in New Zealand’s Central Contracts list
New Zealand Cricket offered yearly contracts to its players for the upcoming season on May 14. The list included 20 names and Canterbury all-rounder Daryl Mitchell and Auckland Aces star Glenn Phillips were the only two fresh faces in it. BJ Watling, the soon to be retired wicketkeeper-batsman and spinner Ajaz Patel made way for the two players. The players have time until May 22 to accept or decline their offers. While Mitchell made his ODI debut this year against Bangladesh at home, the 29-year-old also scored his maiden Test and ODI centuries to go with it, rounding up a great season for Blackcaps. Phillips, on the other hand, was phenomenal in the T20Is, scoring 366 runs at an average of 40.6. His century against the visiting West Indies at Bay Oval in November last year was the icing on the cake for South Africa born Kiwi player. Gavin Larsen, Selector of the Blackcaps congratulated the newcomers to the list. In a press release, he said, “I’d like to congratulate all the players offered agreements for the coming season and in particular newcomers Daryl and Glenn. Receiving your first national contract is a great moment in any player’s career and both thoroughly deserve their elevation.” Players offered national contracts for 2021-22: Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.