Kane Williamson scored an unbeaten 121 as New Zealand won the first Test off the final ball of the match against Sri Lanka in dramatic circumstances. The Kiwi win ensured India’s safe passage to the WTC 2023 final as they drew the fourth and final Test against Australia.
Sri Lanka with an inferior percentage point that India needed to win the Test series 2-0 to qualify for the WTC final. However, as it turned out, the Lankans came second in a rivetting contest and a Kiwi win allowed India to make back-to-back World Test Championship finals.
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Williamson spoke to the reporters after taking New Zealand to a win in the first Test as to what made him bring out the last-minute dive to make the crease in Christchurch and what exactly was going through in his mind at that point.
“I didn’t look overly agile there. And to be honest it was a little bit of an afterthought because I knew the throw would go to Neil’s (Wagner) end and I just sort of thought getting towards the crease maybe I should just throw in a little dive in case and I was kind of in a position to do it” said Williamson.
“But you know an amazing game of cricket to be part of and both the teams competed against each other throughout the five days and all results were on the table before going into Day 5,” he further added.
Watch: Kane Williamson’s Last-Minute Stretch Takes New Zealand To A Memorable Win
A thriller in Christchurch. #NZvSL pic.twitter.com/7hv2j4bEjJ
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 13, 2023
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It was the second time in two weeks that New Zealand was part of a dramatic Test match. They won the second Test against England by one run from a seemingly lost position. Sri Lanka too had their moments in the first Test but the Kiwis kept their nerves and with Williamson at one end managed to scrape through to a win.
Neil Wagner also deserves a special mention as he came out to bat despite having physical problems and ran through that single and made his ground on time. He came out to bat despite a torn hamstring and a bulging disc on his back with the game on the line on Monday.
“That’s special for Test cricket. It’s great that we have a couple of those experiences and hopefully you know there’s plenty of people who are enjoying it. For us as players, it’s been special to be involved with such games or any Test match. But obviously over the five days, you know the competition is fierce and it could have gone either way and it panned out the result with the finest of margins” Williamson concluded saying.
The second NZ vs SL Test match starts on March 17 in Wellington.
Also Read: NZ vs SL Cricket Betting Tips and Tricks: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Match Prediction, 1st Test 2023
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