'They have got some amazing talent': Brett Lee on which team has the 'edge' between India and New Zealand in WTC final

As we build up to the final of the first-ever World Test Championships, one can't think of two more evenly-matched sides than India and New Zealand. The Kiwis have headlined the finals of the last two ICC Cricket World Cups, while India have regularly made it to the knockouts of ICC events.

The 2015 World Cup (semi-finalists), 2016 World T20 (semi-finalists), 2017 Champions Trophy (runner-up) and the 2019 World Cup (semi-finalists) come to mind. Hence, if any two other teams would have been fighting for the WTC crown, the term 'favourites' could have held weightage, but not with India and New Zealand.

Also Read | 'Their talks go on for even 2 hours sometimes': CSK youngster throws light on the bond between MS Dhoni, Faf du Plessis

Brett Lee, the former Australia fast bowler, feels the same, and while he believes that India, with a squad filled with match-winners will definitely put on a show in the WTC final starting at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton from June 18, he predicts the contest to be 'evenly-matched'.

"Well, it is a tough one, you would have to see which bowlers can produce on this surface. And when you spoke about the Indian Test line-up, that will be on show; they have got some amazing talent as do the Kiwis. So, I think it is pretty evenly matched there," Lee told ICC in an interaction.

Also Read | 'I got wickets because of pressure created by Srinath': Prasad explains how Bumrah, Shami, Ishant must work as partners

India landed in the UK on Thursday and have reached the Hilton Hotel at the Ageas Bowl, where they will be quarantining before entering the bio-bubble. On the other hand, New Zealand are already playing England in the first Test match at Lord's, which will be followed by another a second Test. So while there may be nothing to pick between the two teams, Lee feels Kane Williamson's New Zealand could hold the edge over India on the basis of the following reasons.

"I am thinking though with the experience of New Zealand because they have bowled in conditions which are similar back home, you talk about the ball moving around, you talk about something in the wicket, there will be a bit of something, it may be conducive to fast bowling, to swing bowling," Lee added.

"So that is where I think that the Kiwis might have an advantage purely from that fact. Now from a batting point of view, both sides have got batsmen that can play against swing bowling. But I think it comes down to bowling. I think whichever team bowls best will win the Test match final."