Cricket: IND vs NZ - WTC Final going to be battle of bowlers, says David Warner

Australian batsman David Warner reckons the ICC World Test Championship between India and New Zealand will be won by the side who bowls better during the course of the much-awaited match, starting Friday in Southampton.

On the battle between two world-class captains and high-quality batters – Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli – Warner didn’t pick his favourite but lauded the duo for their class and quality.

"You look at two world-class batsmen and world-class captains, both average above 50," he told India Today on eSalaamCricket.

Warner feels while New Zealand have played two-Test series against England in the build-up to the WTC final, the conditions in Southampton will be completely different to what London and Birmingham had to offer in the rubber. He further predicted that with the Dukes ball, it is going to be a battle of the bowlers.

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"They had the warm-up so because of that do they have a sense of what the conditions are going to be like. But we are at Southampton (for the WTC Final), which has been a spinning wicket in Tests. In ODIs, we have seen it as a hard bouncy track. So do India play two spinners? It is going to be a great battle, both teams are using a Dukes ball, so I think it is going to be a battle of the bowlers," he said.

Earlier, former India batsman VVS Laxman had predicted that the team which manages to score big in the first innings will have an upper hand in the inaugural WTC Final.

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"It is more about which team bats better. I think there is a lot more experience and class in the Indian team. With New Zealand, yes, they have got an exciting opener in the form of (Devon) Conway. There is experience in Ross Taylor, Tom Latham and Kane Williamson. But the Indian batting lineup has a lot of experience and talent, so I believe whichever team scores an above par total in the first innings will hold the edge," said Laxman.