Turning Track Backfires As India Lose 1st Home Test Series Since 2012; NZ Make History
Pune: The writing was on the wall at the end of Day 2 itself.
On Saturday, the hitherto invincible Team India did nothing special to veer from the inevitable and surrendered to the New Zealand spinners.
Chasing an improbable victory target of 359 on a turning track, India’s powerful batting lineup folded up for 245 to hand New Zealand a historic 113-run victory in the second Test here at MCA Stadium on Saturday.
It not only helped New Zealand seal their maiden Test series triumph on Indian soil in nearly 70 years of toil, thanks to an unbeatable 2-0 lead, the Kiwis also condemned India to their first series defeat at home after 12 long years, spanning 4,331 days.
England were the last team to beat India in India in 2012-13, when Alastair Cook’s men came from behind to claim the four-match series 2-1.
It was a classic case of the visiting team beating the hosts at their own game.
Opting for a turning track after losing the opening Test by 8 wickets, Indian batters failed miserably against New Zealand’s spinners. Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, considered to be a white-ball specialist who had bagged just 54 wickets in his previous 28 Tests, grabbed 13/157 in this game alone to emerge as the matchwinner.
The 32-year-old Santner outbowled India’s dreaded spin trump cards Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, and exposed the methods of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and their younger teammates on a pitch which tested batters’ spin technique.
Washington Sundar turned out to be India’s surprise spin spearhead, claiming 11 wickets in the match, but it wasn’t enough.
After managing a pathetic 156 in their first innings, India adopted an ultra-aggressive approach in the second, employing the sweep to try and negate the spin offered by the track.
Yashasvi Jaiswal underlined his status as one of the most skilful young batters in the world by taking the attack to New Zealand but Rohit (8) fell to his second single-digit score of the match.
Jaiswal played some outrageously beautiful shots off Santner and Ajaz Patel, while Shubman Gill also looked good for his 23 before edging Santner to slip.
With Jaiswal (77 off 65 balls, 9×4, 3×6) blazing away at the other end, Kohli looked determined and reached 17 off 40 balls before being adjudged leg-before wicket to Santner.
Rishabh Pant added to the misery by being run out without opening his account, while first-Test centurion Sarfaraz Khan (9) was foxed by Santner for the second successive time.
Spinning allrounders Jadeja (42), Sundar (21) and Ashwin (18) tried their best to stretch the innings, before Patel got into the picture to end India’s resistance.
Brief Scores
New Zealand 1st innings: 259
India 1st innings: 156
New Zealand 2nd innings: 255 (Glenn Phillips 48 not out; Tom Blundell 41; Washington Sundar 4/56, Ravindra Jadeja 3/72).
India 2nd innings: 245 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 77, Ravindra Jadeja 42; Mitchell Santner 6/104).
Result: New Zealand win by 113 runs.
Man of the Match: M Santner (13/157 match haul).
Series situation: NZ lead 2-0.
Final Test: From Nov 1 at Mumbai (Wankhede Stadium).