By Julian Guyer

SOUTHAMPTON -New Zealand enjoyed the greatest triumph in their cricket history as they beat India by eight wickets in the inaugural World Test Championship final at Southampton on Wednesday (23).

Two years after their agonizing Super Over loss to England in the 50-over World Cup final at Lord’s, the Blackcaps claimed their first major global title.

Set a modest target of 139 in 53 overs, New Zealand finished on 140-2 with time to spare in a match extended into a reserve sixth day following two days lost to rain.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reduced New Zealand to 44-2 by removing openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway to the delight of India fans.

But New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, the team’s most-experienced batsmen, settled any lingering nerves in an unbroken stand of 96.

Williamson, who won plaudits for the sporting way he dealt with defeat in the 2019 World Cup final, was 52 not out. It was only the second fifty of the match after New Zealand opener Devon Conway’s first-innings effort and followed Williamson’s first-innings 49.

Taylor, who hit the winning boundary, was unbeaten on 47.

India’s last hope of turning the tide evaporated when, with New Zealand 55 runs shy of victory at 84-2, Cheteshwar Pujara dropped a regulation slip catch off the luckless Jasprit Bumrah to reprieve Taylor on 26.

Taylor ended the match when he whipped Mohammed Shami off his pads for four.

“It’s a very special feeling,” said Williamson at the presentation ceremony as he paid tribute to a “formidable” India side.

“It was just great the heart that our team showed to get across the line in what was a brilliant Test.

“We know we don’t always have the stars — we rely on a few other bits and pieces to try and stay in games and be competitive and I think we saw that in this match.”

In a match in which bowlers held sway, New Zealand’s all-pace attack did most damage Wednesday by dismissing India for just 170 in their second innings as blue skies provided the best batting conditions of the game.

Tim Southee took 4-48 in 19 overs, with long-time new-ball partner Trent Boult striking twice in an over during his 3-39.

The towering Kyle Jamieson, named player of the match, followed his first-innings 5-31 by snaring India captain Virat Kohli again during a miserly 2-30 in 24 overs.

“We did really well with the ball in the first innings to pull things back nicely but this morning was the difference, where the Kiwi bowlers really executed their plans to perfection,” said Kohli, whose side face England in a five-Test series starting in August.

New Zealand would have confronted an even smaller target had Rishabh Pant not been dropped on five during his innings of 41.

Few cricket lovers would begrudge New Zealand, a country with a population of around five million compared with cricket powerhouse India’s 1.3 billion, their success.

They entered a final worth $1.6 million to the winners, hardened by a recent 1-0 series win in England, while India were playing their first Test since March.

The reserve day, the first time a Test has gone into a sixth day since the 2005 Super Series in Australia, was deployed in the hope a two-year effort to crown red-ball cricket’s first official world champions would end with an outright winner.

India resumed on 64-2, with key batsman Kohli adding just five runs to his overnight eight when he again fell to Royal Challengers Bangalore team-mate Jamieson, edging to BJ Watling in the wicketkeeper’s final match before retirement.

India’s 71-3 became 72-4 when Pujara edged Jamieson low to a diving Taylor at first slip.

In came Pant, whose batting heroics helped India achieve a remarkable come-from-behind series win in Australia earlier this year.

But the wicketkeeper should have been out soon afterward when he edged Jamieson, only for Southee to drop a routine slip chance.

Pant eventually fell when his skied edge off left-armer Boult was brilliantly caught by Henry Nicholls, running back from point.

-Agence France-Presse