Breaking Indian hearts in the inaugural final of the ICC World Test Championship, Kane Williamson-starrer New Zealand side has done Rohit Sharma and Co. a massive favour by outclassing Sri Lanka in their series opener on Monday. Title contenders in the second edition of the ICC event, Sri Lanka had to register back-to-back wins over New Zealand to remain in the World Test Championship final race.
Making sure that Dimuth Karunaratne and Co. bow out of the World Test Championship on the final ball of the thrilling series opener, Williamson's New Zealand outclassed Sri Lanka by 2 wickets at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Sri Lanka’s defeat paved the way for the Virat Kohli-starrer side to seal the final spot for the summit clash of the ICC World Test Championship. Here's how Rohit and Co. celebrated India's progress to the final of the World Test Championship during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Monday.
Watch the celebrations by Indian players below:
{{/usCountry}}Watch the celebrations by Indian players below:
{{/usCountry}}India outclassed Australia in the first two Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to achieve the worst possible points percentage of 57% in the World Test Championship standings. With Sri Lanka suffering a defeat in the series opener against New Zealand, Karunaratne's side can only finish their campaign with the best possible WTC points percentage of 53%.
Leading the Black Caps from the front, Williamson played a match-winning knock to seal a thrilling final-over win for New Zealand over Sri Lanka in the 1st Test. Williamson remained unbeaten on 121 as New Zealand edged past Sri Lanka by 2 wickets at Christchurch. Williamson's New Zealand had defeated India in the inaugural final of the World Test Championship back in 2021.
India also retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after securing back-to-back wins in the first two games of the four-match Test series. Talking about the recently concluded encounter between India and Australia at Ahmedabad, Australian batters Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne smashed half-centuries to help the visitors end the 4th Test in a stalemate at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Usman Khawaja (180) and Virat Kohli (186) emerged as the standout performers in the 4th Test match between India and Australia.