IND vs NZ 2nd Test Day 2 Report: There have been very few days where the Indian cricket team has been bulldozed by a visiting team at home in Test cricket since 2013, as they felt on day 2 of the Pune Test against New Zealand.
While day 3 is generally regarded as the moving day in Test cricket, it was day 2 in Pune, which will prove to be decisive as the day ended with New Zealand leading by 301 runs and still having five wickets in hand.
Earlier, they bundled India for 156 through Mitchell Santner’s seven-wicket haul. Then, Tom Latham led from the front with the bat with 86 runs. The Kiwis could seal the match on day 3 and their maiden Test series in India, which would be India’s first home Test series loss in 11 years!
IND vs NZ 2nd Test Day 2 Report:
India lost six wickets in the first session on day 2, and that signaled the doom for the hosts for this test and the series as they fell way behind in Pune. New Zealand grew in confidence as their spinners kept picking up wicket after wicket, while India were left utterly shocked, staring at their first home test series loss since 2013.
The first session started well for India as youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill took a balanced approach, being cautious while also sending the loose balls to the boundary. They formed the second-wicket partnership of 49 runs off 111 balls, but then the collapse was triggered with Gill’s wicket, the right-hander getting lbw to Santner while defending on the front foot.
Virat Kohli was bowled for only 1 run while playing an ugly sweep to a full toss, virtually a yorker, from Santner, missing it completely. Jaiswal was the next to go, edging Glenn Phillips to Daryl Mitchell at first slip.
With the pitch offering considerable turn, Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan felt the only way to go about their business was to attack. Both of them perished trying to do that: Pant was bowled off Phillips and Sarfaraz was caught at mid-off off Santner, who also had Ashwin lbw before the lunch break.
Also Read: IND vs NZ 2nd Test Day 2 Highlights
Virat Kohli was bowled for only 1 run while playing an ugly sweep to a full toss, virtually a yorker, from Santner, missing it completely. Jaiswal was the next to go, edging Glenn Phillips to Daryl Mitchell at first slip.
With the pitch offering considerable turn, Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan felt the only way to go about their business was to attack. Both of them perished trying to do that: Pant was bowled and Sarfaraz was caught at mid-off. Ashwin getting lbw sealed a six-wicket session for the Kiwis.
Post lunch, Jadeja flexed his muscles as he walloped a couple of sixes and fours to Ajaz, but his 38-run stay was ended by Santner, lbw again, as the left-arm spinner completed his maiden Test five-wicket haul. Santner added two more wickets to wrap up India’s innings at 156, with New Zealand taking a crucial 103-run lead.
The only way for India to make a game out of this was to run through New Zealand in their second innings. Not only that didn’t happen, but also the Kiwis ticked off runs at a quick rate.
New Zealand scored 100 runs in 24 overs while losing three wickets: Conway and Rachin to Sundar and Young to Ashwin. At his end, captain Tom Latham was rock solid and reached his half-century off 82 balls, looking the most assured he’s done in this series despite the pitch being a challenging one.
Daryl Mitchell’s cameo of 18 (23) was ended by Sundar. The young off-spinner finally ended Latham’s resistance for 86 runs, but by then the left-hander had taken his team’s lead to 300 and had all but sealed New Zealand’s win in Pune.
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