New Zealand vs India 2020: Top 3 Performers of the Test series

Team India's first overseas tour of the new decade has culminated with the visiting side bowing down to the hosts, New Zealand, in the ICC World Test Championship series. After an impressive showing in England and Australia two years ago, the cricket universe hoped Virat Kohli and co. to give the Blackcaps a run for their money in this two-Test series.

Unfortunately, India's batting department did not click at all as the Kiwi fast bowlers decimated their rivals. India missed the services of Rohit Sharma in this series as the new opening pair of Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw could not provide solid starts to the team. Captain Virat Kohli let his fans down with a string of failures whereas the upcoming wicket-keeper batsman, Rishabh Pant, also did not perform well.

On the other side, all the Kiwi players played their respective roles to perfection and here are the top 3 performers of this series:

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#3 Tim Southee

Tim Southee was the best bowler of the series

After a horrendous run with the ball in T20Is and ODIs, Tim Southee showcased his class in the red ball arena. He scalped 14 wickets in the series to top the bowling charts, even bowling 18 maiden overs in this series. The right-arm fast bowler led New Zealand's bowling attack from the front in both the games.

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He bowled a fiery first innings spell in Wellington where he dismissed Shaw, Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Mohammed Shami. Southee then sent five Indian batsmen back to the pavilion in the second innings to end the game with match figures of 9/110. His bowling performances had a huge impact on the outcome of this series.

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#2 Tom Latham

Tom Latham scored the most runs in this series

The pace-friendly conditions in Wellington and Christchurch offered no assistance to the batsmen as the fast bowlers dominated the proceedings in both the games. However, the one batsman who stood tall against the pace bowlers was New Zealand's opener, Tom Latham.

The left-handed batsman did not impress much in the first Test but frustrated India with his twin fifties in the second game. He provided New Zealand with some solid starts as he got good support from his opening partner, Tom Blundell. With 122 runs in four innings, Latham had the highest aggregate in this series.

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#1 Kyle Jamieson

Kyle Jamieson destroyed India with his all-round brilliance

The 6 ft 8 inches tall fast-bowling all-rounder, Kyle Jamieson, had received his maiden Test cap in the first Test of this series. However, he showed no nerves at all in his debut series. Jamieson backed up Trent Boult and Southee with his right-arm pace in the bowling department. He scalped nine wickets in the series where he had best figures of 5/45.

With the bat, Jamieson ensured that the lower order of New Zealand contributes some precious runs to the team's total. He scored 93 runs in two innings, averaging 46.50. Although he could not register his maiden Test half-ton, Jamieson's 40+ scores made a massive difference in this series.