New Zealand on Wednesday, climbed to the number one spot in the ICC Test for the first time after a thrilling win against Pakistan in the first of the two-match Test series at the Bay Oval.

The Kiwis were slightly behind Australia in the ratings, however, Australia’s loss in the second Test against India at the MCG cost them their spot. 

With Wednesday’s win, New Zealand gained 60 Test Championship Points while the Boxing Day Test victory gave India 30 points.

Also read: Fawad Alam’s century goes in vain as New Zealand beat Pakistan by 101 runs in first Test

This was New Zealand’s fifth straight Test win, all of them coming at home after winning both the Tests against West Indies earlier this month.

Although New Zealand won by 101 runs on Wednesday, the match was quite a close contest with just over four overs left. 

Fawad Alam, who scored a century, and Mohammad Rizwan put up a 165-run fifth-wicket stand. However, Kyle Jamieson removed Rizwan 11 overs into the final session and wickets started falling there onwards. 

The final wicket pair of Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah battled it out of 48 balls. However, Mitchell Santner took the wicket of Shah with just 27 balls remaining.