New Zealand reach the top of ICC Test rankings with yet another innings victory over West Indies

New Zealand pacers picked the remaining four wickets of the West Indies batsmen for 73 runs on Day 4 morning in Wellington, making their team win comprehensively by an innings and 12 runs in the second and last Test of the two-match series.

With 2-0 series win, New Zealand not only became the joint No.1 ranked Test side in the world but also bagged crucial points in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship (WTC) to edge closer to a dream finale at Lord’s in June 2021.

After a nearly 20-minute delayed start, the West Indies resumed their second innings on 244 for 6 with captain Jason Holder on 60 and debutant Joshua Da Silva on 25, however, were dismissed for 317 midway through the first session.

Victory for New Zealand!

The BLACKCAPS have claimed a 2-0 Test series victory over the West Indies, winning the second test at the Basin Reserve by an Innings and 12 runs.

Highlights and the morning's replay on demand #NZvWI #InsideEdge ⭕️🏏 pic.twitter.com/uaD1S1wrGy

— Spark Sport (@sparknzsport) December 13, 2020

Opting to bat after winning the toss, the Tom Latham-led Black Caps put on 460 runs on the board in their first innings. They then dismissed the visitors for 131 in their first innings early on Sunday and the stand-in skipper had a little hesitation in enforcing the follow-on.

Congratulations @BLACKCAPS! Another innings victory here at the Basin! 👏🏏 https://t.co/0FZxFGELqk

— Basin Reserve (@BasinReserve) December 13, 2020

“The way we were able to set the game with the bat on the back of Henry’s innings was outstanding,” said the winning captain Latham in post-match presentation.

“On the back of that …to put a team back in twice in two matches was not going to be easy for the bowlers … but they kept coming time and again and did the job with the ball.

“So, yeah, clinical is a good word for it.”

Meanwhile, the losing captain Jason Holder revealed the reason why his side lost the game.

“When we batted in the first innings we didn’t set up the game very well.

“We always say the first innings is really important to set the match up and we didn’t do that in this Test match.”

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