ESPNcricinfo Awards 2021 Test bowling winner: Kyle Jamieson's biggest five-for

If you disregard the Edgbaston Test from the week before this match, the last time a side lost in England after putting on 60 runs for the first wicket of the game was more than ten years in the past. It says something about the premium on first-innings runs in those conditions that there is usually no way back for the opposition if the team batting first puts runs on the board. Now, for the second week in a row, an opening pair had survived New Zealand's famed new-ball attack. With a day lost already and more rain expected in this World Test Championship final, though it was six days long, and Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill giving India a steady start, New Zealand risked landing in the position of the only one of the two sides who could lose.

In this sixth over of his first spell, Jamieson, averaging 15.1 coming into the Test after a sensational first year in cricket, drew the error from Rohit.

Jamieson had a lot going for him. There was seam, there was swing, and his height made for uncomfortable bounce. He gave India nothing to score off, though he took longer to draw false responses than Tim Southee and Trent Boult did. It is likely the batters thought he was just too hot to handle and so they stayed away from playing at him. Jamieson, though, kept coming at them, conceding just 1.4 to the over and taking out Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant early on the third day before wiping out the tail. It set up an incredible win for New Zealand, despite the many hours lost to rain.

Despite the difficult conditions, India ended day two in pretty promising shape: 146 for 3, their captain looking good and into his 40s, and they had built a partnership of 58 for the third wicket. Had they doubled that overnight score, they would have batted New Zealand out of the Test. Jamieson, though, began the third morning testing both edges of Kohli's bat before smashing his pad with a full nip-backer to open the floodgates. India's last seven wickets added just 71.

5 Number of five-wicket hauls Jamieson had at the end of this match, in just eight Tests. Nobody picked up as many in the first WTC cycle.

14 Number of balls in Jamieson's 22 overs that batters were able to play into the leg side. They cost him 14 runs.

7 Number of balls out of Jamieson's first 94 that would have gone on to hit the stumps. The seventh was the one that got Kohli lbw.

"I have been very impressed with Jamieson. His patience has been good. He has all the capabilities of a great fast bowler. He's tall. He bowls a nippy pace. He could get quicker […] But right now, in these conditions, you don't need to ask much more. He is landing the ball in a good place, he is moving the ball around, and he is using his height to his favour."
- Dale Steyn on ESPNcricinfo

Ajaz Patel
10 for 119 vs India, second Test, Mumbai
A once-in-a-lifetime feat of taking all ten wickets in an innings, but it took Ajaz 47.5 long overs, which meant the other bowlers were not effective enough - and that showed in the result: a 372-run defeat.

Scott Boland
6 for 7 vs England, third Test, Melbourne
Everything came together for the metronomic Boland in this spell, as every good ball seemed to draw an edge, and every edge went to hand. It took him just four overs to take the six wickets in front of on overjoyed home crowd as Australia wrapped up the Ashes.