New Zealand beat India by 8 wickets to win the inaugural ICC World Test Championship Final — Kane Williamson's 49 and Kyle Jamieson's 5/31 defeating the highest-ranked Test team in the world, giving cricket's longest format its first global champion.
The ICC World Test Championship was introduced in 2019 — a two-year points competition across all Test nations to crown a global Test champion. New Zealand and India qualified for the first final, held at Southampton in June 2021.
India had been the dominant Test team globally for much of the 2019-2021 cycle. New Zealand, smaller nation, smaller squad, had been quietly excellent — their series results placing them consistently near the top.
The final was extended to 6 days due to bad weather. India batted first and made 217, then 170. New Zealand replied with 249 and needed 139 to win. Kyle Jamieson had taken 5/31 in the second innings — extraordinary swing bowling.
Williamson made 49 in the chase — composed, unhurried, technically precise. Devon Conway (52*) finished it. New Zealand won by 8 wickets.
Williamson raised the mace — the World Test Championship trophy — at the Ageas Bowl. Cricket's most prestigious format had its first official world champion. New Zealand had won without a player of the commercial profile of Kohli, Rohit, or Bumrah — through collective excellence alone.
Jamieson's 5/31 — India's second innings dismantled
Williamson's 49 — characteristically composed, match-securing
New Zealand win by 8 wickets — inaugural World Test Champions
June 18, 2021
WTC Final begins, Southampton — India bat first
June 22, 2021
India 170 in second innings — New Zealand need 139
June 23, 2021
New Zealand win by 8 wickets — first WTC champions
New Zealand lost the second WTC final to Australia in 2023. The WTC continues as cricket's Test championship format, generating renewed interest in Test cricket's competitive framework globally.
New Zealand's WTC win confirmed that Test cricket's global champion could be a small nation with world-class skills but no commercial dominance. It validated the WTC format and confirmed Williamson's side as the finest of their era.
New Zealand's 2021 WTC win established them as the finest Test team in the world at that moment. Under Williamson, they reached two consecutive WTC finals — a consistency that confirms them as Test cricket's quiet achievers.
Australia vs West Indies
1960-12-14
The first tied Test in 86 years of cricket history — Australia and West Indies finished level on 737 runs each after five days of breathless cricket in Brisbane, producing one of the most dramatic finishes the game has ever seen.
India vs Australia
1986-09-22
Twenty-six years after Brisbane, cricket produced only its second tied Test — Dean Jones's heroic 210 through crippling heat and Dean Jones's fever, Ravi Shastri's unbeaten 48 and India needing 2 off the last over, only for Maninder Singh to be out lbw off the final ball.
Australia vs South Africa
1999-06-17
Lance Klusener smashed Australia to the brink of elimination, then ran out Allan Donald off the penultimate ball to tie the match — but Australia advanced to the final on superior run rate, ending South Africa's greatest World Cup campaign in devastating fashion.