Kyle Jamieson was awarded the Man of the Match award as New Zealand won the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship. The Black Caps stunned India by eight wickets at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton to emerge as the winners on Wednesday.
Jamieson, who made his international debut last year, provided the initial impetus in the high-profile encounter. He returned with figures of 5/31 from 22 overs that set the tone in the Black Caps’ favour.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, a ‘humble’ Kyle Jamieson lauded the other bowlers for keeping up the pressure, which in turn reflected in his figures. Jamieson said:
“It’s nice to have the ball first up and play your part. It’s nice to have a chance to do good things for the team. The work that the other bowlers did was really helpful for my figures.”
The 26-year-old backed his five-wicket haul with another two wickets in the second essay to finish with seven scalps in the WTC final.
Jamieson, along with Tim Southee (4/48) and Trent Boult (3/39), cut short India’s stay in the middle on the reserve day of the Test to set up a target of 139 runs. Jamieson stated that the Black Caps executed their plans to perfection in the morning session, which paved the way for their victory.
“It’s a massive moment. To have some context around Test cricket is big and to be standing here now is surreal. I knew we had a big first hour today. We had the ball in the right areas, and we knew it would be a tough task,” said Jamieson.
Virat is a world-class player: Kyle Jamieson
Of the seven wickets, Kyle Jamieson will cherish the wickets of Indian skipper Virat Kohli. He removed the talismanic batsman in both innings of the final; thus stretching his century drought.
The Kiwi pacer highlighted that bowling against Kohli at the Royal Challengers Bangalore camp during the now-postponed IPL 2021 helped him come up with a plan.
“Virat is a world-class player, and it was good to have some experience against him at RCB. To pick him up twice in the Test was great,” concluded Kyle Jamieson.