Southampton, June 24: On a sunny day at the Ageas Bowl, India lost 8 wickets for 99 runs and fell headlong to an 8-wicket defeat against New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC final) summit clash. Wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant top-scored for India with a cavalier 41 in the second innings.
Along the way, India under Virat Kohli created some unwanted records too, expected when the teams gets bundled out in less than two sessions. Here's a look at them.
1. Indian batsmen fail to score 50
In two completed innings, no single Indian batsman made a fifty. The highest score in either innings was a 49 by Ajinkya Rahane. On the other hand, New Zealand batsmen registered two fifties through Devon Conway (first innings) and Kane Williamson (second innings). The last time India recorded this unwanted feat was against England at Lord's in 2018, and since then India had played 26 Tests till the WTC Final.
2. Kohli, a bunny of Jamieson?
Indian skipper Virat Kohli fell to New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson twice in the WTC Final, and this was also the third time in three Tests the towering pacer got Kohli's number. A bunny of sorts? Imagine, New Zealand also has Tim Southee, who has dismissed Kohli 10 times while Trent Boult and Neil Wagner also have ousted Kohli three times apiece.
3. NZ pacers hold sway
The Kiwis went in with an all-pace attack for the WTC Final and managed to pick 20 Indian wickets on offer. This was the fourth such instance for them in Teste cricket as previously they had managed the feat in Wellington and Hamilton (2002) and Auckland in 2014.
4. Williamson's master brain
We all know that Williamson is a captain with a tactical brain. It seems that his cricketing brain is ticking even faster against India. The affable Kiwi became one of the very few captains to oversee India's dismissal under 250 in six successive innings. The streak started with the Wellington Test in 2020 and spilled over to Christchurch match the same year and to the WTC Final in Southampton.