After dominating large parts of the day, India committed hara-kiri in the last 10-15 minutes to hand New Zealand the edge at the end of Day 1 of the third Test in Mumbai.
India bowled New Zealand out for 235 and were motoring along nicely at 78/1. However, three wickets in the last two overs of the day has put India in a hole.
New Zealand won their second successive toss of the series and had no hesitation in batting first. Akash Deep struck early as he pinned Devon Conway plumb in front in the fourth over of the day.
It took just eight overs for India to introduce spin and there was some help for the spinners. But Tom Latham and Will Young batted decently after the early wicket. The duo added 44 runs for the second wicket before Washington Sundar struck twice in quick succession. The tall off-spinner knocked over the New Zealand skipper for 28 before castling Rachin Ravindra for the third time in a row.
New Zealand fought back with the partnership of Daryl Mitchell and Young. They shared a 77-run stand for the fourth wicket. Both batters were dealing with the heat but accumulated runs at a decent pace. Young brought up his half-century with a superb straight six. The partnership was going strong even though there were a few plays and misses.
It was Ravindra Jadeja who broke the partnership as he had Young caught at slip. The ball gripped and turned as the New Zealand No. 3 was dismissed for 71. Tom Blundell was outdone by a jaffa as Jadeja had two in the same over. He knocked over Glenn Phillips with an arm ball to give India the advantage heading into Tea.
In the third session, Jadeja continued to chip away and got two wickets in three balls to complete his 14th fifer in Test cricket. Mitchell struck a few boundaries before Sundar wrapped up the innings with two wickets in the space of four balls. New Zealand finished with 235 and their last seven wickets fell for just 76 runs.
India start well before committing hara-kiri
India started their reply well. Rohit Sharma hit three boundaries in as many overs before he was dropped at deep square leg by Will O’Rourke. Matt Henry was the unlucky bowler. However, it didn’t cost much as the 32-year-old seamer had the Indian captain edging to second slip in his following over.
After Rohit’s loss, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill batted very well and looked in fine touch. Both batters attacked the spinners and their 50-run stand came in just 58 balls. Just when it seemed like India would finish the day with just one wicket down, Jaiswal was bowled while attempting a reverse sweep. Ajaz Patel got his first wicket of the game before he pinned the night-watchman Mohammed Siraj LBW off the very next ball. India were already in trouble at 78/3 when Virat Kohli walked out.
The former India skipper struck a boundary before he set off for a risky single on the next delivery and was runout. Henry hit the stumps directly at the non-striker’s end to put India under even more pressure.
India ended the day at 86/4 with Gill batting on 31. Rishabh Pant has joined him in the middle. The hosts have a task ahead of them on the second day as they still trail by 149 runs on a surface that has turn and bounce.
The Blackcaps are already 2-0 up in the three-match Test series. India will be desperate to turn things around with crucial World Test Championship (WTC) points up for grabs.
BRIEF SCORES: New Zealand 235 (Daryl Mitchell 82, Will Young 71, Ravindra Jadeja 5/65, Washington Sundar 4/81) vs India 86/4 (Shubman Gill 31*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 30, Ajaz Patel 2/33, Matt Henry 1/15).
