Heading into Day 3, India carried a sense of optimism about their position in the WTC final with the score reading 146/3 and their skipper Virat Kohli and his capable deputy Ajinkya Rahane not out overnight. Another session of those two batting together, it was felt, would strengthen India’s position to the extent where they could put New Zealand under real pressure.
However, as it transpired, the Kiwis dismissed both Rahane and Kohli and ran through the lower middle-order as well as the tail to finish off the innings for a score of 217. Kyle Jamieson once again proved to be the chief destroyer for Indian batsmen, as Virat and company could add only another 61 runs to their total on Sunday.
It was a disappointing end to an innings where Indian batsmen had really worked hard and showed admirable resilience before the Kiwis bounced back and made the opponent realise once again the crude reality of facing up to their excellent pace battery.
Jamieson started off the collapse, dismissing Kohli LBW for his overnight score of 44 with a one that moved into him after pitching. An effect of the pacer’s height accentuated by the seam movement he generates, Jamieson went on to add another five-fer to his young Test career. Apart from Kohli, he dismissed the explosive Rishabh Pant (4), tailenders Ishant Sharma (4), Jasprit Bumrah (0), having also got opener Rohit Sharma (34) on Day 2.
For India, Ajinkya Rahane (49) looked like playing another one of his top-drawer knocks in trying circumstances until a moment of mental disintegration against Neil Wagner saw him hand an easy catch to the short leg fielder, only one ball after which the fielder had been placed there.
Ravichandran Ashwin played quite well for his 22 but was done in on an attempt to drive Trent Boult outside off-stump. Ravindra Jadeja was the last man to be dismissed on 15, with his knock reflecting a sense of unclarity with regards to batting with the tail.
While Jamieson bagged a five-fer (5/31), Boult (2/47) and Wagner (2/40) contributed a couple of scalps each. The only member of the Kiwi pace quartet to miss out was Tim Southee, who got 1 for 64 off his 22 overs. Collectively, they thwarted the Indian hopes.
Carrying the momentum forward after the change of innings, Kiwi openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway batted really well through their stand of 70 runs. The duo weathered the storm with the new ball with strong composure and resolve. Indian pacers couldn’t find as much swing as their New Zealand counterparts did. And it took Ashwin to induce a miscued drive from Latham (30) at a short cover region for India to get on board.
Joined by skipper Kane Williamson at the other end, Conway continued his amazing form and went past another fifty before he was out caught on 54 at mid-on while trying to flick Ishant off his pads. Till then, Ishant had tried to draw Conway into nicking one outside off-stump from an ‘around-the-wicket’ angle. But the one that perhaps caught him by surprise led to his downfall.
Though Ashwin and Ishant got the wickets, India’s best bowler on the show was Mohammed Shami who rushed both Latham and Conway and even got a couple of edges off the shoulder of their bats only to see the ball either fall short of the gully fieldsman or flew over his head. Shami’s spell was a nice positive for India, but they’ll be slightly worried by how rusty Jasprit Bumrah looked through 11 wicketless overs for 34.
Brief scores
New Zealand 101/2 (Devon Conway 54, Tom Latham 30; Ishant Sharma 1/19, Ravichandran 1/20) trail India 217 (Ajinkya Rahane 49, Virat Kohli 44; Kyle Jamieson 5/31, Neil Wagner 2/40) by 116 runs
