NZ humble India again for historic Test series win
PUNE: New Zealand made history with their first Test series triumph in India as spinner Mitchell Santner inspired a 113-run win in the second match on Saturday to stun the Pune crowd.
The visitors bowled out India for 245 in their chase of 359 on day three to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
It is India’s first Test series defeat at home since December 2012, when Alastair Cook’s England beat them 2-1.
Before now New Zealand had never won a Test series on Indian soil dating back to 1955 and the Black Caps celebrated to stunned silence.
New Zealand became only the fourth team to win a Test series in India since 1990 after South Africa, Australia and England.
“It’s a really special feeling. Very proud to be in this position,” said new permanent skipper Tom Latham, who took over from Tim Southee after a 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka.
“It’s not just me but a team effort... I’m stoked for the guys. It’s really special. Immensely proud to be in a position of winning two Test matches here. Lot of New Zealand teams have come over the past 69 years and 13 series, and to be the first team to win a series here is special.”
Santner, whose 7-53 in India’s first innings of 156 set up the famous win, rattled the Indian chase with six wickets on a turning pitch and trumped the hosts at their own spin game.
“Every time you take wickets you get a little more confident,” player of the match Santner said. “I felt that today. Every time I got a wicket, it got a little better.”
The left-hander bowled unchanged from one end, returning figures of 6-104 in 29 overs. Ajaz Patel took the final two wickets and ended Ravindra Jadeja’s resistance on 42 when the batsman holed out in the deep.
With the series defeat, India’s record of 18 consecutive bilateral home series wins — the longest such run for any team — came to an end.
The alarm bells will be ringing for India before they embark on a gruelling five-match tour of Australia next month, with the team’s form under the microscope.
While spinner Santner took a match haul of 13 to spell doom on a turning pitch, the hosts were left in tatters by New Zealand’s pace bowlers in overcast conditions in the series opener at Bengaluru.
“I don’t think we batted well enough to get runs on the board,” India skipper Rohit Sharma said. “It is a collective failure. The team has failed to accept the challenge thrown at us.”
“We lost the game and the series, that is hurting. But we won 18 series in India and that means we did a lot of good things [in the past]. I will not think too much into this. We had two-three bad innings, but it happens sometimes.”
India’s famed batting has flopped twice in the series including getting bowled out for 46 for their lowest total at home in the opener in Bengaluru.
India continue to top the World Test Championship standings despite the two defeats but will be less confident about a spot in next year’s final.
India bowled out New Zealand for 255 inside the first hour of play and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in his 65-ball 77 came out attacking to raise hopes of a miracle.
The hosts lost Rohit for eight but raced to 81-1 at lunch in 12 overs.
Santner took down Shubman Gill for 23 soon after the break to end a 62-run second-wicket stand with the left-handed Jaiswal, who powered on after reaching his fifty.
The in-form spinner finally had Jaiswal caught at slip, then ran out Rishabh Pant for a duck and trapped trump card Virat Kohli lbw for 17, dousing India’s remote chances.
Sarfaraz Khan was unable to recreate his batting heroics from the opening match, perishing for nine after missing a low delivery from Santner to hand the bowler back-to-back five-wicket hauls.
The shoulders really dropped when Washington Sundar fell for 21 to Glenn Phillips and Santner had Ravichandran Ashwin caught for 18 as India stared down the barrel.
With spin dominating on the black-soil turner at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, it was fitting that Patel took the final two wickets.
India spinners Sundar and Jadeja shared seven wickets between them in the second New Zealand innings, with Jadeja claiming three of the five to fall on Saturday.
Resuming on 198-5, New Zealand trotted along nicely in the morning until Jadeja castled Tom Blundell for 41 for his first wicket of the match.
Santner looked to target Jadeja but misread a looped delivery from the left-arm spinner and was caught in the deep for four.
Southee followed him back into the dugout, edging Ashwin to Rohit, who showed quick reflexes to pull off a superb catch.
Washington took a fine running catch in the deep as Ajaz fell for one to Jadeja while William O’Rourke was run out for a duck, leaving Phillips stranded on 48.
Scoreboard
NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 259 (D. Conway 76, R. Ravindra 65; W. Sundar 7-59)
INDIA (1st Innings) 156 (R. Jadeja 38; M. Santner 7-53)
NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings) 255 (T. Latham 86; W. Sundar 4-56, R. Jadeja 3-72)
INDIA (2nd Innings, overnight 198-5):
T. Latham lbw Sundar 86
D. Conway lbw Sundar 17
W. Young lbw Ashwin 23
R. Ravindra b Sundar 9
D. Mitchell c Jaiswal b Sundar 18
T. Blundell b Jadeja 41
G. Phillips not out 48
M. Santner c Bumrah b Jadeja 4
T. Southee c Sharma b Ashwin 0
A. Patel c Sundar b Jadeja 1
W. O’Rourke run out 0
EXTRAS (LB-5, NB-3) 8
TOTAL (all out, 69.4 overs) 255
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-36 (Conway), 2-78 (Young), 3-89 (Ravindra), 4-123 (Mitchell), 5-183 (Latham), 6-231 (Blundell), 7-237 (Santner), 8-238 (Southee), 9-241 (Patel)
BOWLING: Ashwin 25-2-97-2; Sundar 19-0-56-4 (1nb); Jadeja 19.4-3-72-3 (2nb); Bumrah 6-1-25-0
INDIA (2nd Innings):
Y. Jaiswal c Mitchell b Santner 77
R. Sharma c Young b Santner 8
S. Gill c Mitchell b Santner 23
V. Kohli lbw Santner 17
R. Pant run out 0
W. Sundar c Young b Phillips 21
S. Khan b Santner 9
R. Jadeja c Southee b Patel 42
R. Ashwin c Mitchell b Santner 18
A. Deep c Ravindra b Patel 1
J. Bumrah not out 10
EXTRAS (B-12, LB-6, NB-1) 19
TOTAL (all out, 60.2 overs) 245
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-34 (Sharma), 2-96 (Gill), 3-127 (Jaiswal), 4-127 (Pant), 5-147 (Kohli), 6-165 (Sarfaraz), 7-167 (Sundar), 8-206 (Ashwin), 9-229 (Deep)
BOWLING: Southee 2-0-15-0; O’Rourke 1-0-5-0; Santner 29-2-104-6 (1nb); Patel 12.2-0-43-2; Phillips 16-0-60-1
RESULT: New Zealand won by 113 runs.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mitchell Santner
SERIES: New Zealand lead 2-0.
Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2024
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