New Zealand skipper Tom Latham was delighted after their 3-0 clean sweep against India. The Kiwis won the third Test match at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday by 25 runs after restricting the hosts to 121 runs before setting a target of 147 runs.
The visitors were able to outplay the Rohit Sharma-led team, which was not at all expected before the start of the series. New Zealand won the opening Test at Bengaluru by eight wickets after skittling out India at 46 runs in the first innings. The tourists then took an impregnable lead of 2-0 in the series after registering a 113-run win at Pune.
The Kiwis are always known to punch above their weight and they certainly did against India to reap rewards. This is the first time when India has been whitewashed by 3-0 while playing at home and it is also New Zealand’s first Test series win on Indian soil.
“I’m lost for words a little bit in terms of what’s happened over the last three days, but also the last sort of three weeks,” New Zealand captain Tom Latham said. “I guess if you asked me at the start of the tour whether I would have liked to be in this position… to be here now and play the cricket that we’ve played is really special and I’m really proud of the group.”
Meanwhile, New Zealand suffered a 2-0 series loss against Sri Lanka before arriving in India. However, Latham was able to turn the tables after he took over the captaincy baton from Tim Southee.
“I guess from my point of view, leading this group… It’s always a really proud moment to lead New Zealand and I guess to come here and be my first time as full-time captain and to be in this position is really special,” Latham said.
“But for me, it’s not about me, it’s about the team and yeah the team has done the job. At the end of the day, everyone’s chipped in when they need it and that’s the beauty of a team sport. It’s not going to be everyone’s day on particular days but guys stand up when they need to. And guys stood up at certain times throughout this whole series which I’m really proud of,” he added.
New Zealand will next take on Sri Lanka in three ODIs and two T20Is.
