Washington Sundar Dismissing Rachin Ravindra: Washington Sundar has dismissed two batters in two overs towards the end of the second session on Day One to push New Zealand on the back foot for the Indian Cricket Team.
Day One of the second of three India vs New Zealand Test matches is currently being played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune. On a spin-friendly pitch, the Kiwis won the toss and decided to bat first.
The day did not start too well for India. While Ravichandran Ashwin took the wicket of captain Rom Latham in the eighth over of the inning, the first session saw New Zealand batters, especially Devon Conway, frustrate Indian bowlers. Ashwin also scalped Will Young in the 24th over. At the end of the first session, the BlackCaps score was 92/2.
Conway, who scored his 50 soon after the lunch break, was looking dangerous before Ashwin ‘Anna’ dismissed him to bring the score to 138/3. But by the time Conway was dismissed, Rachin Ravindra had settled and threatened to take the game away from the home side.
Ravindra, who was the Player of the Match in New Zealand’s victory in the first Test after having scored a brilliant ton, soon scored a 50 of his own. He, along with Daryl Mitchell, started building a solid partnership.
Watch: Washington Sundar Dismissing Rachin Ravindra
Around this time, Washington Sundar, who was brought into the squad as the third spinner, had been bowling all afternoon but had nothing to show for it. That was about to change at the cusp of the tea break.
Coming in to bowl the 60th over, ‘Washy’ came in around the wicket to a left-handed Ravindra. The ball fell in the line of the middle stump and turned ever-so-slightly. However, the turn was enough to fox the Kiwi batter, who had gone in for the defence but missed the ball that kissed the off-stump in the most majestic ball of the day. The score now was 197/4.
But Sundar was not done. He also bowled the last over before tea, the 62nd over. Having not spun the ball much throughout the over, he pitched it outside the line of the stumps on the last delivery of the over. The ball then spun sharply and came into Tom Blundell, knocking the bails over. Right before the break, Washington Sundar had taken two wickets.
But even this wasn’t enough for the 25-year-old all-rounder. In the 64th over, right after the tea break, Sundar caught Daryl Mitchell in front of the stumps. While initially given not out by the umpire, the review showed that the ball would have hit the stumps, and thus Washington took his third wicket of the day and sixth for India.
At the time of Mitchell’s wicket, New Zealand are 204/8. The Indian Cricket Team will be looking to dismiss the whole New Zealand side today itself.
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