New Zealand shift focus to WTC final after conquering England

New Zealand are set to clash against India in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship Final in Southampton from 18 June.

They can take confidence from a successful campaign in England, where they achieved their first win in the country since 1999. However, New Zealand’s opening batter Tom Latham expressed the need to shift focus to India in the post-match press conference after their eight-wicket win in the second Test.

"From our point of view, it was about coming here and focusing on these first two Test matches against England and trying to continue doing what we've been doing over a couple of years now," said Latham.

"Now that we've ticked that one-off, it's important that our focus shifts to India in a couple of days," he added.

"For us to come here and put a performance on the board that was true to us was really important. It was about trying to do what we do really well and I thought we did fantastically well over the four days," he continued.

"It's well documented that '99 was the last time we'd won here and we have been here a couple of times over the recent years and haven't quite got the rewards. For us to come here and play a good brand of cricket was outstanding. It's certainly an achievement that's worth celebrating."

The Black Caps missed out on an ICC trophy when they lost the 2019 Cricket World Cup final against England "by the barest of margins." Brushing that disappointment aside, they would be looking to add the first WTC trophy in their cabinet. But Latham understands that India will provide a tough competition.

"They've got a fantastic set of bowlers, a lot of quality batsmen that have scored runs in different conditions all around the world. They were over here a few years ago and played really well, so we know we'll have to play well to beat them.

"Even though the preparation has been great over the last two weeks, it's important that we do shift our focus and adapt to a completely different side," he said.