The Kiwi spinner gets his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests as India is bowled out for 156 in its first essay; Latham’s half-century in the second innings puts his side 301 ahead with five wickets in hand
Once is an aberration. Twice is a pattern. The venue changed. So did the conditions. But India’s batters surrendered meekly for the second week in succession. As a result, New Zealand tightened the noose and found itself in with a realistic chance of winning its maiden Test series on Indian soil.
Mitchell Santner’s (7/53) clever variation in speed —combined with inexplicable strokeplay by India’s batters — not only resulted in his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests but also helped New Zealand bundle India out for 156 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium here on Friday.
A captain’s knock by Tom Latham then ensured that the sizeable 103-run advantage was built on superbly by the New Zealand batters.
At the end of the second day’s play, New Zealand was 198 for five, a lead of 301 runs. If India has to give itself a remote chance, the spin trio will have to dismiss the lower order quickly and the batting needs to come good.
If Friday’s first session was an indication, it will be a Herculean task to even make a match of it.
Starting its first innings at 16 for one, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill were comfortable against Tim Southee’s pace but Santner started asking questions in the first over itself.
Gill was fortunate to have been adjudged not out off a close lbw shout while missing one that rapped his pads in line.
While Jaiswal successfully employed the reverse sweep off Santner, Gill charged down to loft Southee over his head for a six. In the 11th over, however, luck ran out for Gill as umpire Paul Reiffel upheld an lbw appeal.
By then, Santner had settled into a nice rhythm and rather than trying to put too many revs on the ball, he was focussed on varying the pace and letting the dicey strip do the rest.
It worked in his next over as Santner found Virat Kohli playing all over a slow full-toss, missing it and watching the ball crash into the stumps.
It was a ball that an onsong Kohli could have hit anywhere but on this occasion he failed to even connect.
That dismissal sparked a string of bad shots. While Jaiswal edged offie Glenn Phillips to slip, Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan both had a reprieve each but failed to capitalise on it. Pant missed a slower ball off the backfoot off Phillips while Sarfaraz miscued a drive to deepish mid-off.
When R. Ashwin was undone by a skidder that also stayed low, Santner was on a roll and India was reeling at 103 for seven.
Had it not been for Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar’s cameos after the break, India would have struggled to cross the 150-mark. Santner’s relentless pressure meant he picked the last three wickets to end the home team’s innings.
Latham and Devon Conway then batted positively as New Zealand opened on a strong note. Despite Washington continuing to strike regularly and even completing a 10-wicket match haul, India’s spinners never appeared to be threatening.
Not only did New Zealand manage to rotate the strike regularly but also feasted on the loose balls to take a firm grip on the game.