‘The worthy champions’

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and its greatest cricketer Richard Hadlee led the tributes on Thursday after the Black Caps claimed the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) by beating India.

Kane Williamson's team became Test cricket's first official world champions after prevailing by eight wickets in Southampton on Wednesday, the reserve day of a match plagued by bad weather. "The Black Caps have made New Zealand proud. This was a masterful performance from a team at the top of their game and on top of the world," Ardern said in a statement.

New Zealand have been to the semi-final of the 50-over World Cup eight times and lost the last two finals, in heartbreaking fashion to England on the boundary countback rule after the 2019 decider was tied.

Throughout those setbacks, New Zealand have continued to play in a spirit sometimes derided as "nice guy" cricket.

More importantly, they have won all but one match, a draw, in four Test series since a 3-0 drubbing in Australia around the turn of 2020.

"Over the past two years, the Black Caps performances in the Test arena have been outstanding with Test match and series wins at home and abroad," the 69-year-old Hadlee said in a statement.

"The whole team has shown a high degree of professionalism. Their skill sets have complemented each other to make them a complete playing unit. "It's fair to say that this current group of players is the best in our history."

Kiwis dominated global headlines and Indian media outlets also praised the Black Caps as worthy champions.

Former England international Mike Atherton described them as a "humble, hardworking and outstanding Test team - worthy champions", while former Kiwi cricketer Scott Styris tweeted it was a "sensational performance".

The Telegraph commended New Zealand's discipline and dominance and it also pointed out the rise of Kyle Jamieson.

Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar said New Zealand deserved their victory. "Congrats @BLACKCAPS on winning the #WTC21. You were the superior team," Tendulkar wrote on Twitter.