WTC Final 2023: Indian Cricket Team has finally managed to overcome the threat of New Zealand in the knockouts of ICC tournaments. Over the years, be it in either way, the Black Caps have stood in way of the Rohit Sharma-led side and have denied them an ICC trophy.
But this time around the Kiwis themselves have made the way for Team India and have given them the best shot at the ICC trophy after 9 long years. Indian Cricket Team has officially qualified for the final of the World Test Championship and it’s fair to say that New Zealand deserves a part of the credit in this.
WTC Final 2023: New Zealand thumps Sri Lanka in the first Test to pave way for India to qualify for the World Test Championship
With the way things have panned out in the ongoing Test series between India and Australia, even a draw at Ahmedabad wasn’t enough for the Rohit Sharma-led side to qualify directly for the WTC final.
Therefore the onus was on New Zealand to make way for India and they did exactly what many Indian fans expected. They pounded Sri Lanka by 2 wickets to eliminate them from the race of the finals and give Australia their opponents for the summit clash, which will take place in Oval, England in June this year.
Things weren’t quite fruitful for Indian fans on the first two days of the Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka as the visitors stamped their authority and were in charge. They put the hosts under tremendous pressure as after posting 355 runs on the board, they left the Black Caps tottering at 188/6.
But Daryl Mitchell came to the rescue and smashed a magnificent ton to put his team a tad ahead in the game. The second essay for Sri Lanka was quite similar to the first one as on account of Angelo Mathews’ ton, they registered 302 runs on the board, setting the target of 285 runs for the opposition to chase.
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It seemed that it’ll be a tough ask for New Zealand as they were crumbling at 90/3. But Kane Williamson held the fort for his side and oozed his class by smashing a century. He along with a vital contribution from Mitchell (81) tilted the game in his side’s favour. The former remained unbeaten on 121 runs and guided his side to a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
WTC Final 2023: Sri Lanka gets eliminated from the race of the World Test Championship Final
The loss in the first Test against New Zealand has eliminated Sri Lanka from the race of the World Test Championship Final. For them to qualify, they needed to win both games against the Kiwis. But as it turned out, they have been knocked out and even a win in the second game wouldn’t do any good to them.
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