New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on Wednesday (December 30) said they set sight on the final spot in the ICC World Test Championship and that aim keeps pushing his team to give their best in each and every game after the hosts defeated Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test.
At the moment, New Zealand is the second-ranked Test team in the world after top-ranked Australia while placed third in the ICC World Test Championship points table. In the ICC World Test Championship Final, the two teams will fight it out for the championship mace next year at Lord’s.
In the first Test of the two-Test series at Centurion, Pakistan fought hard and once it looked like the Boxing Day Test would end in a draw but New Zealand bowlers ensured a 101-run win for the hosts by taking six wickets for just 31 runs on Wednesday.
After the Boxing Day Test triumph, the world’s new no.1 Test batsman Williamson has acknowledged that New Zealand aims to play the World Test Championship final and “that carrot was in mind” in the final session where the match turned in favor of the hosts.
Williamson said at the post-match presentation: “Absolutely, we want to play the World Test Championship final, and we saw it in the final session today when there was that carrot in mind.”
The skipper continued, “But in Tests, you know that it's all about going moment by moment, and that's what you play with. We did make the declaration that if the wicket doesn't deteriorate, it would have given them a chance. They had some positive players at the crease, and some more to come.”
Meanwhile, Williamson has also insisted that the World Test Championship means “you give yourself a chance to win a game, but also lose it” after taking a 1-0 lead in the home series against Pakistan.
He signed off, “It gave the viewers that spectacle, with three possible results going into the final session. I think we saw similar characteristics on this wicket when we played against England. We are playing in our country, but on surfaces which are varied. With the wind and the sun, it started to offer a bit more.”
Noteworthy, the second and final Test between New Zealand and Pakistan will be played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch from January 3, 2021.
(With PTI Inputs)
