Mumbai: Looking to avoid a rare, embarrassing 3-0 sweep in a home series, India did well to dismiss New Zealand for 235 in the third and final Test here at the Wankhede Stadium here on Friday.
However, a chaotic final 15 minutes saw the home team lose three wickets and plunge to 86/4 at stumps on the opening day. That, too, with second-Test destroyer Mitchell Santner not playing due to an injury.
Rohit Sharma raced to 18 off as many balls before edging pacer Matt Henry to Tom Latham at second slip. The Indian skipper has aggregated 80 runs in 5 innings so far in the series.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (30) and Shubman Gill (batting 31) got into the groove against the spinners and carried the score to 78/1. Then disaster struck.
Yashasvi attempted a pre-meditated reverse sweep off left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel only to lose his leg stump. Nightwatchman Mohammed Siraj was out leg-before wicket to the next ball, while Virat Kohli (4) was run out in the next over going for a non-existent run.
Like Rohit, Kohli is yet to total 100 runs in the series, having managed 92 in 5 innings.
India thus lost 3 wickets in the space of 9 balls.
All the good work of spinners Ravindra Jadeja (5/65) and Washington Sundar (4/64) was undone.
Daryl Mitchell (82) and Will Young (71) threatened India with a fine partnership after New Zealand lost 3 wickets in the first session, 2 of them to offie Sundar. But left-armer Jadeja then took 2 wickets in 2 balls to bring India back into the game.
It’s up to their remaining batters to perform as per expectations and push New Zealand for the first time in the three-match series.
Brief Scores
New Zealand 1st innings: 235 all out in 65.4 overs (Daryl Mitchell 82, Will Young 71; Ravindra Jadeja 5/65, Washington Sundar 4/64).
India 1st innings: 86/4 in 19 overs (Shubman Gill batting 31; Ajaz Patel 2/33).
Play to continue on Day 2.
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