Thanks to Taylor's 102 and Latham's 108 (both retired out) on a flat Brabourne Stadium track, New Zealand notched up a mammoth 343 for nine in the allotted 50 overs.
The first half an hour saw only 5 runs being scored and that showed the determination in both Taylor and Williamson's approach. While Jasprit Bumrah could have bowled slightly better in the conditions, Shami and Ishant kept trying to add to the tension as they maintained a disciplined approach. It was about who breaks first.
Sri Lanka's Akila Dananjaya spun a web around New Zealand's batsmen, picking up all five wickets on a rain-shortened opening day of the first Test in Galle on Wednesday. Experienced batsman Ross Taylor held firm with an unbeaten 86 against the guile of Dananjaya to take the touring side to 203 for five when rain forced early stumps.
Speaking on the sidelines of the WTC Final, Kiwi great Ross Taylor said players need to be paid adequately to continue playing international cricket.
India dished out a dominating performance to crush New Zealand by 90 runs as spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal yet again tormented the home batsmen.
Captain Virat Kohli admitted that India were at least 30 runs short while lauding the application shown by New Zealand's batsmen, especially Tom Latham, in the first One-Day International at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Half-centuries from Ross Taylor and Scott Styris guided New Zealand to a thumping 200 run-victory over India in the opening match of the one-day tri-series in Dambulla on Tuesday.
New Zealand moved to temper expectations ahead of the Cricket World Cup after their six-wicket victory over India in the warm-up match on Saturday, with conditions likely to be more conducive to batting during the tournament.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan picked all three New Zealand wickets to fall as the visitors put up 107 for three before rain returned to halt play on Day 2 of the second and final Test on Tuesday.
Nathan McCullum gets recall into Kiwi set-up for World T20; Nicholls gets call-up after good showing in series vs Pakistan
Hardly challenged in a dominating run this season, India once again start as overwhelming favourites when they take on an inconsistent-but-gritty New Zealand in a three-match One-Day International series, starting in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Kane Williamson becomes fastest New Zealand batsman to register 7000 Test runs
New Zealand beat the West Indies by four wickets in the second Twenty20 international at Wellington on Wednesday to win the series 2-0 and add to their 2-0 success in the Tests.
'It's important we learn from this and when we get back together as a red ball team, we face India and we can hopefully play our brand of cricket'.
Statistics emerging from the Indian Premier League (IPL) reveals that for the New Zealand cricketers, the tournament has been the most lucrative.
Batting first, Board President's XI made 295 for 9 in 50 overs and then bowled out the tourists for 265 in 47.4 overs.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson scored 90 to lay the foundations for a 38-run victory over Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Friday which gave the Kiwis the three-match one-day international series 2-1.
Sarfraz Ahmed struck a defiant century before Pakistan's spinners wrecked New Zealand's top and middle order to leave the second Test in Dubai nicely poised on Thursday. New Zealand had reduced Pakistan to 287 for eight and appeared on course for a healthy first innings lead, but Sarfraz (112) added 81 runs for the last wicket with Rahat Ali to dash their hopes.
A brilliant performance by New Zealand's seamers and a composed run chase by Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor ensured the Black Caps made history by beating India to win the inaugural ICC World Test Championship.
The duo had 15 seconds to challenge the decision but with no indications from Williamson, Taylor walked back to the pavilion.
'We don't play that many three-match series, so I guess just being able to play more Test matches and hopefully more three-match series rather than two-match series.'
Clubbed alongside former champions Pakistan and Bangladesh, New Zealand will be have to "combat" some top class spinners in the group stages of the upcoming World T20 in Sri Lanka, said captain Ross Taylor.
After losing the 50 overs World Cup to England in a controversial contest two years ago, New Zealand -- a country of just 5.1 million people -- finally won its first world silverware in cricket. Arguably, the biggest trophy of them all. The World Test Championship.
Having surprised India in the second One-day International, New Zealand pacer Tim Southee, on Saturday, said the strength of the side lies in the fact that they don't get 'too far ahead of ourselves' nor 'too down of ourselves' when the results are not going in their favour.
Tom Latham will captain the team for an entire series for the first time in place of Kane Williamson, who suffered a recurrence of an elbow injury in India and will miss both Tests.
Pakistan will not only have to win the remaining three matches, starting with New Zealand, but also hope that the results in other matches favour them to salvage any hopes of a semi-final berth.
India vice-captain Rohit Sharma says the team's recent winning streak in cricket's shortest format, is a good sign heading into the T20 World Cup.
'376 was always tough (to chase) but the bowlers fought throughout and that's something we can take to Indore. Hopefully, we can play some fear-free cricket to put India under pressure'
New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori, who is suffering from a groin injury, is likely to miss the two-match Test series against India, starting from August 23.
India have won six ODI series on the trot. New Zealand have never won an ODI series in India.
Delhi Daredevils all-rounder Irfan Pathan has called on the middle-order batsmen of his side to fill in the gap left by Kevin Pietersen, and also hoped that struggling Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor would soon regain his lost touch.
Martin Guptill produced a superb diving catch to dismiss the dangerous Thisara Perera with a wicket that sparked a stunning collapse as New Zealand swept the three-match one-day series against Sri Lanka with a 115-run victory at Nelson on Tuesday.
Senior New Zealand player Ross Taylor said that players from his country have benefitted immensely by rubbing shoulders with the best players in world cricket in the Indian Premier League.
Live update of the Champions Trophy match between South Africa and New Zealand.
New Zealand struggled to 159 for five on the second day of the second and final Test on Thursday, trailing Sri Lanka by 257 runs after Thilan Samaraweera's century had put the hosts in command.
An under pressure India will face their stiffest test in recent times when they try to bounce back in the three-match ODI series against a refreshed New Zealand in the must-win second game in Pune, on Wednesday.
South Africa will need their bowlers to step up to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
Australia's misery continued, with New Zealand beating them by two wickets in Perth on Sunday in a low-scoring first ODI in the five-match ODI series. Chasing a victory target of 182, New Zealand huffed and puffed before Ross Taylor (64) propped them. Needing five runs off the last over, the Kiwis levelled the score with the fifth ball before captain Daniel Vettori hit a boundary off the last delivery from Nathan Bracken for a memorable win.
New Zealand will have their tails up and eye another upset when they resume the trans-Tasman rivalry with a strong Australian side.
Tom Latham broke the 24-year-old record of Sachin Tendulkar of the highest ODI score made on a birthday
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