As the cricketing world transfixed itself to the fifth day of India vs Australia, hoping for some miraculous intervention in what had been four days of the utterly boring and lifeless game, Sri Lanka and New Zealand gave us a match for the ages in Christchurch. It had everything that we were expecting Ahmedabad Test to deliver. 

Chasing 286 on the final day is never a straightforward task, and the Sri Lankan bowlers did everything they could to make this a complicated chase, yet their valiant effort wasn’t enough to salvage a draw, let alone victory, thanks to a masterful vigil from Kane Williamson, who got a good helping hand from Daryl Mitchell.

Williamson just added one more to his list of memorable knocks he has played under pressure. He stood tall for close to five hours, and forged a crucial partnership with Daryl Mitchell that turned out to be the bedrock of their famous victory.

New Zealand needed 8 runs from the last over of the match, and they lost Matt Henry on the third ball. Williamson then carved out the gap at the deep point with perfection, which left them with just one needed of two balls. The next ball was then missed by Williamson, but he ran for his life to complete the last runs on the last ball, and barely survived a run-out, as New Zealand prised out a victory.

The victory of New Zealand means India has now qualified for the final of the World Test Championship, set to be played at the Oval in England from 7 June. They defeated Australia 2-1 in the home series. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, is out of the race, as even a victory in the second Test won’t be enough for them to reach the second position.

India will be playing their second consecutive WTC final, after having lost the first one comprehensively against New Zealand in 2021.