The tug of war between both India and New Zealand seems to be tilting slightly in favour of the Indians after a spirited batting performance on Sunday. The Kiwi bowlers romped through the top order, but the middle order came to India’s rescue, and it puts them in a commanding position heading into the final day.
Kyle Jamieson was off to a poor start, conceding two boundaries in the first over of the day, but it didn’t take long for him to find his rhythm. He dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara with a well-directed short delivery, which Pujara tried to leave at the very final second and got a feathery nick off his gloves.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane was off to a quintessential start, which included one beautiful cover drive and plenty of hits and misses. His stay didn’t last long, though, as Ajaz Patel’s straighter-one disguised him well enough, and he was adjudged LBW.
Tim Southee mounted further pressure in his next spell, where he nearly had Shreyas Iyer if not for the absence of a first slip. But he managed to send Mayank Agarwal and Ravindra Jadeja back to the pavilion in quick succession, both beaten by the incoming delivery.
Agarwal edged it to the second slip where Tom Latham grabbed a good catch, whilst Jadeja was trapped in front of the stumps with Southee coming round the wicket to the left-hander.
At 51/5, India found themselves in dire trouble. Shreyas Iyer was joined by R Ashwin, who once again walked out to bat ahead of Wriddhiman Saha. The duo countered with a bit of aggression, and accumulated quick runs for the side. Ashwin got off the mark with a picturesque straight drive and continued to take his chances against the spinners.
They slowed down towards the end of the first session, but runs kept coming at a decent pace in the second session. Right after completing their fifty partnership, Ashwin chopped a wide delivery onto the stumps off Jamieson.
Saha and Iyer were the last recognized batters left, and just when a partnership was needed from the both they showed great character with the willow.
This was a pretty important game for the 37-year-old keeper from Kolkata, who has been under the pump for not getting enough runs and add to it the presence of KS Bharat and Rishabh Pant around the corner. Saha took his time to get his eye in, and once he did, he played some beautiful shots against the spinners to get the scorecard running.
Iyer, at the other end, neatly guided his way to a half-century, making him the only Indian cricketer to get a century and half-century in his debut game. Both Iyer and Saha made excellent use of their feet, let it be while coming down the track or while sweeping the spinners.
Iyer was eventually dismissed for a well compiled 65, whilst Saha kept going after the bowlers and got to his half-century in some style. Out of nowhere, both their half-centuries helped India get past the 200-run lead, and soon they surpassed 250 mark.
Axar Patel contributed immensely with the bat alongside Saha, allowing the right-hander to take his chances. Having added 67 runs for the eighth wicket, India declared with 234 runs on the board, setting a 284-run target for the Kiwis. Saha remained unbeaten on 61 off 126 deliveries, which included four boundaries and one six.
The Black Caps had less than five overs to bat towards the end of the day. These are often the trickiest of overs to face, and Ashwin managed to scalp Will Young in a controversial LBW call before the day ended.
Young was adjudged LBW by Virender Sharma, but the ball was missing the stumps by a mile. Will had a chance to review, but took too long to ponder and by the time he asked for a review, the time was up.
New Zealand need 280 runs to win on the final day and have nine wickets left. It won’t be an easy task for either side to get a positive result, but to face the Axar-Ashwin-Jadeja music for 90 overs might not be a happy ride for the visiting team.
Brief Scores
India 1st innings: 345 all out in 111.1 overs (Iyer 105, Gill 52, Jadeja 50; Southee 5/69, Jamieson 3/91)
New Zealand 1st innings: 296 all out in 142.3 overs (Latham 95, Young 89; Patel 5/62, Ashwin 3/82)
India 2nd innings: 234/7 declared in 81 overs (Iyer 65, Saha 61*; Jamieson 3/40)
New Zealand 2nd innings: 4/1 in 4 overs
