On the second day of the third Test at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India was at a vulnerable two-run lead in the first innings against New Zealand.
India’s Shubman Gill scored 90 and Rishabh Pant 60, but the Indian hosts were captained and all out for 263, a first-innings lead of 28.
Ajaz Patel had enough of it when he grabbed five wickets and restricted India’s scoring while pushing New Zealand’s score forward; Ajaz took 5/103.
| Player |
Runs Scored |
Notable Contributions |
| Shubman Gill |
90 |
Showed strong control, helping India score steadily. |
| Rishabh Pant |
60 |
Aggressive play, found gaps for boundaries. |
| Washington Sundar |
38* (Not Out) |
Supported the lower order to reach 263 runs. |
Gill and Pant contributed significantly to India’s score of 263 but fell short of more.
Pant and Gill shine in the first half, Ajaz Patel fight back
India started nicely as Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant found their form and went after the New Zealand bowlers.
Pant, in true T20 style, went after anything even remotely loose, scoring 60 runs in a fairly short period and including quite several boundaries.
Gill offered solidity and control, putting together 96 runs with Pant, and Ish Sodhi brought the breakthrough by getting rid of Pant at 195/5 just before lunch.
Ajaz Patel then made the game hard for India to chase and send back the Indian middle order batters. Ravindra Jadeja followed soon after the break but the lower-order failed to lend any support to Gill who came so close to his century before being dismissed.
Washington Sundar was a dutiful lower order contributor with an unbeaten 38 which got india a narrow lead before their collapse.
Related Article : India vs New Zealand: Clash of Titans in the Test Arena
Akash Deep Gets An Early Success, New Zealand Takes A Breather
Having a lead of over 200 runs, India going to put pressure right away in New Zealand’s second innings.
Pacer Akash Deep struck a good length in his very first over to get the big scalps of Kiwi’s skipper Tom Latham.
The dismissal marked the aggressive Indian approach as Akash embraced with jubilation, giving Latham a raw send-off.
They were finally able to contain India’s charging after Will Young and Devon Conway stood firm, not wanting the innings to go any further out of control before tea.
Just as the last game of the day was about to begin, New Zealand posted a total of fifty-nine for the loss of one wicket to stabilise the side.
India has a slight edge, and Akash Deep’s wicket on the very first over made it interesting.
The strategies of Rohit Sharma under the scanner and both teams on edge for control, Day 3 is expected to bring out more lip-biting moments as India tries to gather back lost ground and New Zealand to regain balance.
References:
NDTV.com
News18.com
