Bumrah was not enough as a clinical Rachin helped New Zealand win
BENGALURU: Thick cloud cover and the threat of rain on Sunday suggested conditions were ripe for a quick India pick against New Zealand on the final day of the thrilling first Test.
Not to be outdone by Rohit Sharma and his men. The way the captain has protested the umpire’s decision to give light to the New Zealand openers before the rain came in buckets at the back of the fag on the penultimate day suggested as much.
But when Jasprit Bumrah, in particular, swung the ball prodigiously and asked hard questions, the first innings failed with the bat coming back to haunt the Indian team. The Black Caps held off their attack, eventually easing to an eight-wicket win with two sessions to spare.
Latham and his men ended a 36-year wait for victory on Indian soil. Their last Test victory was in 1988 when the John Wright-led side registered a 136-run win against Dilip Vengsarkar’s side at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
New Zealand also became the third team in Test cricket after Australia and England to thump India at home over a decade. It also won the first Test in four attempts at the venue.
The target of 107 was too low despite early morning rain making New Zealand nervous as the start of play was delayed by an hour.
As play began, the visitors lost Latham when a length delivery from Bumrah backfired, and the skipper was caught in front. India’s hopes rose with that early wicket. Bumrah struck again, removing the struggling Devon Conway (17) by catching him leg before. New Zealand were 72 runs behind at that time.
But while Bumrah was dangerous, Siraj at the other end struggled a bit as a spinner when the quicks ended the opening spell.
Man of the match and first innings centurion Rachin Ravindra (39 no) settled the jitters along with Will Young (48 no) and eased the tension in the New Zealand dressing room by sneaking a Bumrah boundary through the gap and backing it up with another flick. midwicket. That’s when India’s hopes began to fade.
The spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav only accelerated the victory march of the visitors. With the clouds rolling in, the Kiwis didn’t want to leave anything behind. Young and Ravindra attacked the slow bowlers, with the former highlighting the duo’s dominance by clobbering Kuldeep for a six over mid-wicket.
Surprisingly, go-to spinner R Ashwin was brought in when New Zealand needed 10 runs to win. Ashwin can only delay the inevitable.
While the loss will certainly hurt, Rohit later admitted that there are many benefits. Back from 46 to score 462 with two tenacious talents – Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant leading the way, it was good for India. This helped the hosts push the rain-hit match into the fifth day.
In retrospect, India will analyze the twin collapse – Mayhem in the first innings and the loss of seven wickets for 54 runs in the second essay.
The defeat did not change India’s position at the top World Test Championship Table (98 points; 68.06 PCT). This led New Zealand to fourth place (48 pts; 44.44). With five Tests in hand in the current cycle, the Kiwis have some catching up to do.
GILL AND SHAMI NET
Less than an hour into the match, it was clear that India wanted to lose as Shubham Gill, who missed the Test due to a stiff neck, started training in the center field. Also appearing in the nets was the heavily laced Mohammed Shami, who has been sidelined with a knee injury.
TNN
WASHINGTON ADDED TO INDIA SQUAD
Tamil Nadu allrounder Washington Sundar was on Sunday added to the Indian squad for the remaining two Tests against New Zealand.
That 25 came after 152 for Tamil Nadu in a Ranji Trophy match against Delhi. Washington played a key role in India’s historic win over Australia at the Gabba.
SQUAD: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav , Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar
