IND vs NZ, 2nd Test, Day 3, Highlights: Team India lose first Test series at home since 2012; Mitchell Santner bags 13 wickets for New Zealand. India 2-0 behind in three match series.
Brief Score: NZ 259 & 255 (Tom Latham 86, Glenn Phillips 48*, W. Sundar 4/56) beat IND 156 & 245 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 77, Ravindra Jadeja 42, Mitchell Santner 6/104 ) by 113 runs.
New Zealand scripted arguably their most memorable away Test win as they trounced a clueless Team India team by 113 runs. They outplayed India in every department of the game, with Mitchell Santner being the stand-out, picking 13 wickets. As a result, the Kiwis win the series 2-0 with a game to spare.
Talking points: Dismal batting from India veterans
For the third time in this series, India batters produced a forgettable performance. The top-order batters, especially senior pros like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, failed to get going in both innings of the Test match. Yes, the surface was tricky for batters but not unplayable as the India batters made it look.
The hosts will feel let down by some of the shot selection from a few of their batters in the first innings. The Kiwis seized the advantage to notch up their first Test series win in India.
Read More: India collapse again in first innings; What are the reasons behind dismal outings with the bat?
India start positively chasing daunting total
With five wickets still in the kitty with a massive lead of 301 runs, New Zealand overnight batters, Glenn Phillips and Tom Blundell, came with an aggressive mindset in a bid to completely take away any chance the hosts had in the game. In the process of looking for some quick runs, the visitors lost wickets at regular intervals. They could add 58 more runs finishing at 255, with Ravindra Jadeja picking three of the five wickets to fall.
India, in pursuit of a huge target of 359 runs, started aggressively but suffered an early setback in the chase as they lost the wicket of Rohit Sharma in just the sixth over. Jaiswal, who looked at ease, started to dominate the proceedings and added unbeaten 47 runs with Gill for the second wicket to go to lunch at 81/1.
Mitchell Santner among the wickets again
India’s bright start drastically faded as the innings went by and the main reason was again the left-arm spinner, Mitchell Santner. He started the post-lunch session by removing a well-set Shubman Gill for 23. Jaiswal, who scored India’s only half-century thus far, was the next man to be dismissed.
The left-hander’s dismissal brought about a collapse, and this included the untimely wicket of Rishabh Pant, who departed through to a run out. New Zealand spinners restricted the scoring and kept picking wickets, sensing a rare series win in India. Santner picked his second fifer of the Test, as the home team slipped further to 178/7.
India’s last batting hopes, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, delayed the inevitable for a while. But their 39-run stand was put to an end by Santner. The visitors eventually bowled out India for 245, thus winning the game by 113 runs.
Read More: IND vs NZ, 2nd Test, Day 2: Santner's 7-53 pushes India into doldrums; NZ 301 ahead at stumps
Statistical highlights from India vs New Zealand, Second Test, Day 3
Washington Sundar's 11-115 are the fourth-best match figures for an India bowler against NZ in Tests.
Ravi Ashwin's bowling average so far in this series (43.50) is his second worst in a home Test series in his career. The worst was 52.64 against England in 2012-13.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has crossed the 1000-run mark in home Tests in 2024.
Mitchell Santner registered the fourth 10-wicket haul for NZ against India in Tests; it is also his first 10-wicket haul in first class cricket.
Santner picked up his second 5-wicket haul in Tests and both have come in this Test match.
He is just the second Kiwi spinner to take two fifers in a single Test match. Daniel Vettori had done it twice in his career.
His match figures of 13/157 is the third best by a visiting bowler in India.
Virat Kohli has now been dismissed lbw 25 times in Tests in India. That's the most number of lbw in India for any batter. The second on the list is Sachin Tendulkar (23).
What’s Next
Though the series is gone, India still has everything to play for with the top 2 spot in WTC standing up for grabs. New Zealand, on the other hand, will eye a rare prospect of whitewashing India at their home den in Tests. The third Test is set to commence on 1 November at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
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