MUMBAI: Shubman Gill missed out on a century while Rishabh Pant scored a quick-fire 60 as India made 263 in response to New Zealand’s 235 before their spinners reduced the tourists to 171-9 at stumps on day two of the low-scoring third Test in Mumbai on Saturday.

Ajaz Patel was unbeaten on seven after Will Young’s battling 51 in testing conditions, as New Zealand wiped out a slender 28-run deficit and built up a valuable lead of 143 at the end of another sweltering day at the Wankhede Stadium.

Ravichandran Ashwin, who took 3-63 and shared seven wickets with spin partner Ravindra Jadeja, hoped the hosts would not be staring at a big target when they eventually bat on Sunday.

“We should wrap it up with one or two runs here and there. Every run saved in this innings is going to be critical for us when we chase it down,” Ashwin said. “It’s not going to be easy and we have to bat really well. I expected a lot more bounce and speed from this Mumbai pitch. It has been quite slow, which is surprise for me... It’s not a typical Mumbai pitch.”

New Zealand won the first two matches to seal their first-ever Test series triumph in India and now eye a 3-0 sweep.

“To be honest it’s [the pitch] turning quite sharply,” Ajaz, who took five wickets to help bowl out India, told reporters. “I suppose inconsistent in terms of how much it does turn and bounce. It has started to turn from both ends and from a batting perspective that can be a challenge.”

Fast bowler Akash Deep put New Zealand under some early pressure in their second stanza when he castled skipper Tom Latham for one and Washington Sundar snared opener Devon Conway for 22 at the start of an absorbing final session.

Ashwin had Rachin Ravindra stumped for four to leave New Zealand in trouble at 44-3, before pulling off a fine catch that got rid of the dangerous Daryl Mitchell for 21 after the batsman had put on a 50-run stand with Young.

Jadeja, who ended the day with 4-52, dismissed Tom Blundell for four, while Ashwin snared the aggressive Glenn Phillips for 26 before the momentum swung India’s way after Ish Sodhi fell for eight.

Young looked to take the game away from India with a patient effort but spooned one back to Ashwin and Matt Henry was castled by Jadeja for 10 on the last ball of the day.

Earlier Ajaz’s heroics — at the same venue where he claimed all 10 wickets in a Test innings in 2021 — helped end India’s reply in the second session.

Gill and overnight partner Rishabh Pant, who hit 60, stood out as they counter-attacked in a stand of 96 while Sundar smashed an unbeaten 38 off 36 balls.

“I was honestly trying to have fun in the middle even if it was difficult — enjoy the difficult moments,” said Gill. “If I was to put too much pressure on myself then I am losing on the art of batting.”

Resuming on 86-4, the batsmen came out aggressively as India look to avoid an embarrassing whitewash on home soil.

Gill survived a reprieve on 45 by substitute fielder Mark Chapman, who failed to hang on to a high catch off Glenn Phillips’ bowling while running in from long-on.

Gill reached his fifty with a single and Pant kept up the attack with regular boundaries to raise his half-ton in 36 balls before Ish Sodhi trapped the batsman lbw to end the fifth-wicket partnership.

Off-spinner Glenn Phillips struck soon after lunch to send back Jadeja, caught at slip for 14.

Ajaz got Sarfaraz Khan caught behind for a duck in the next over.

Gill took on the spinners with boundaries in the next few overs before Ajaz had him caught at slip.

Patel removed Ashwin for six and finished with superb figures of 5-103 as Deep was run out, leaving Sundar unbeaten.

SCOREBOARD

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 235 (D. Mitchell 82, W. Young 71; R. Jadeja 5-65, W. Sundar 4-81)

INDIA (1st Innings, overnight 86-4):

Y. Jaiswal b Patel 30

R. Sharma c Latham b Henry 18

S. Gill c Mitchell b Patel 90

M. Siraj lbw Patel 0

V. Kohli run out 4

R. Pant lbw Sodhi 60

R. Jadeja c Mitchell b Phillips 14

S. Khan c Blundell b Patel 0

W. Sundar not out 38

R. Ashwin c Mitchell b Patel 6

A. Deep run out 0

EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-2) 3

TOTAL (all out, 59.4 overs) 263

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-25 (Sharma), 2-78 (Jaiswal), 3-78 (Siraj), 4-84 (Kohli), 5-180 (Pant), 6-203 (Jadeja), 7-204 (Sarfaraz), 8-227 (Gill), 9-247 (Ashwin)

BOWLING: Henry 8-1-26-1 (1nb); O’Rourke 2-1-5-0; Patel 21.4-3-103-5; Phillips 20-0-84-1; Ravindra 1-0-8-0 (1nb); Sodhi 7-0-36-1

NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings):

T. Latham b Deep 1

D. Conway c Gill b Sundar 22

W. Young c & b Ashwin 51

R. Ravindra st Pant b Ashwin 4

D. Mitchell c Ashwin b Jadeja 21

T. Blundell b Jadeja 4

G. Phillips b Ashwin 26

I. Sodhi c Kohli b Jadeja 8

M. Henry b Jadeja 10

A. Patel not out 7

EXTRAS (B-12, LB-4, NB-1) 17

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 43.3 overs) 171

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-2 (Latham), 2-39 (Conway), 3-44 (Ravindra), 4-94 (Mitchell), 5-100 (Blundell), 6-131 (Phillips), 7-148 (Sodhi), 8-150 (Young), 9-171 (Henry)

STILL TO BAT: W. O’Rourke

BOWLING: Deep 5-0-10-1; Sundar 10-0-30-1; Ashwin 16-0-63-3; Jadeja 12.3-2-52-4 (1nb)

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2024