If Bangalore proved to be a dream Test match for New Zealand, it’s just gotten better in Pune. After just two days of play, they are in the box seat to seal the series. India are under immense pressure as they are staring at a rare home series defeat – their first since losing to England in December 2012.
On day where spinners once again dominated, it was Mitchell Santner who stole the limelight. The left-arm spinner ripped through the Indian batting line-up which put New Zealand in pole position to call the shots in the game. He took 7/53 before a solid half-century from Tom Latham strengthened New Zealand’s position in the second Test.
India started the day at 15/1. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal added 49 runs for the second wicket and looked pretty decent. There were a couple of close calls but they struck a few boundaries in the first hour. But Santner who troubled Gill late last evening and even in the first few minutes of day two finally got the reward for consistent bowling. He pinned Gill plumb in front before he knocked over Virat Kohli for 1. The latter tried to heave a full toss across the line and was bowled.
Glenn Phillips came in and dismissed two left-handers. Jaiswal fell soon after drinks as struck in Phillips’ first over and had the left-handed opener edging to first slip. Pant didn’t last long either as the India wicket-keeper was bowled off a delivery that skidded on and kept a tad low.
Sarfaraz was dropped when he was on 1 but he couldn’t make most of his reprieve as he holed out to mid-off. Santner got his third wicket of the morning. Ashwin was pinned LBW in the left-arm spinner’s following over as India crumbled to 103/7.
Ravindra Jadeja tried to resurrect the innings with Washington Sundar. The former even struck a few boundaries but Santner got him out LBW for 38. Akash Deep hit a single and was bowled the next ball before he got Bumrah LBW to complete a fabulous spell where he ended with seven wickets.
India crashed to 156 all out and conceded a 103-run lead which is massive in the context of the game, given the pitch took turn and aided spin quite a bit. To make a comeback, India needed to trigger a collapse but that wasn’t the case. Almost every New Zealand got a start and they had small partnerships.
New Zealand pile on the misery with the bat
New Zealand started their second innings steadily. India opened the bowling with their off-spin duo of Ashwin and Sundar but it wasn’t the most effective. While Sundar kept it tight, Ashwin went for a few runs, conceding 19 runs in his first three overs. The opening pair of Latham and Devon Conway added 36 runs before Sundar got the latter LBW.
The New Zealand skipper looked solid at his end and stitched a 42-run stand with Will Young for the second wicket. Ashwin was the one who gave India a much-needed breakthrough with the wicket of Young before Sundar knocked over Rachin Ravindra for the second time in the Test.
Latham notched up a half-century and piled on the misery on the Indian bowlers before Sundar completed his 10-fer in the game with the scalp of Mitchell. New Zealand were 123/4 when Latham joined forces with Tom Blundell to keep the Indian bowlers at bay. The duo shared a vital 60-run stand for the fifth wicket.
India didn’t take the chances that came their way as well as Latham was dropped a couple of times. Things looked ominous for India with the lead approaching 300. That’s when Sundar once again gave India a wicket as he had Latham LBW for 86. Blundell and Phillips saw off the rest of the day without any loss. New Zealand finished the day with a lead of 301.
India have successfully chased down a target of more than 300 only three times in the history of Test cricket. The last one being Gabba 2021. In India, it came in 2008 when they hunted down 387 against England in Chennai.
Hence, the Rohit Sharma-led team will need to produce something magical to remain alive in the series. New Zealand have never won a Test series in India and they favourites to create history.
BRIEF SCORES: New Zealand 259 (Devon Conway 77, Rachin Ravindra 65, Washington Sundar 7/59, Ravichandran Ashwin 3/64) & 198/5 (Tom Latham 86, Tom Blundell 30*, Washington Sundar 4/56) lead India 156 (Ravindra Jadeja 38, Shubman Gill 30, Mitchell Santner 7/53, Glenn Phillips 2/26) by 301 runs.
