New Delhi: New Zealand’s top-order batsmen survived unfavorable early spells from pace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj as the Kiwis recorded a famous win on Indian soil for the first time in 36 years in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Chasing a difficult target of 107 runs on the fifth and final day, the visitors recorded a convincing eight-wicket win over India, their first win in the country since 1988.
New Zealand won the game after swinging like a pendulum for four days and also took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The start of play was delayed by an hour due to light drizzle and wet outfield on the final day at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, after which the Indian bowlers attacked the Kiwi batsmen hard. But first innings centurion Rachin Racindra stole the show in the morning session and took the team across the finish line with Will Young in 28 overs.
The win is New Zealand’s first Test win in India since the John Wright-led side’s 136-run win at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in 1988.
as it happened
Chasing the target, New Zealand suffered some early setbacks when they lost Tom Latham – for naught – and Devon Conway (17), but Will Young (48 not out) and Rachin (39 not out) put on a brilliant 75-run partnership . Partnership for the third wicket to lead your team to victory
Despite the defeat, India showed resilience, bouncing back after being bowled out for 46 in their first innings and now need to quickly build on these positives as the second Test in Pune is set to begin on October 24.
Captain Rohit Sharma’s team will have to consider retaining Sarfaraz Khan, who scored 150 in the second innings, as Shubman Gill is likely to return after recovering from neck stiffness.
Another tough decision that Rohit and the head coach and Gautam Gambhir will have to take is whether to stick with the three-spinner combination, which backfired in Bengaluru.
The final day started late at 10:15 am due to a wet outfield, but soon Bumrah (2/29) displayed his class, working from the end of the dressing room. He created quite a stir by dismissing Tom Latham for a duck in six balls in the very first over of the day.
While Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj tested the Kiwi batsmen with movement and bounce, India missed a third fast bowler due to overcast skies.
Conway, the other overnight batsman, was nervous and eventually Bumrah trapped him in front of the stumps for 17 with a skidding, in-swinging delivery.
When New Zealand’s score was 35 runs for two wickets, the match looked balanced as a few more wickets could have turned the tide in India’s favour. But Young and Rachin provided stability to New Zealand in the chase. As the sun came out, ball speed became predictable and the Kiwi batsmen took advantage of the conditions and hit boundaries to reduce the pressure.
Ravindra Jadeja, who started with the no-ball, could not make any significant impact and gave away 14 runs in his first two overs. The Chinnaswamy pitch provided little help to the spinners on the final day, partly due to rain and cool temperatures. With the target falling short with each run, New Zealand’s batsmen grew in confidence and started playing their shots, including a six over midwicket off left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep.
Will Young sealed the win by giving away two runs to Jadeja, leading to jubilant celebrations in the New Zealand dressing room.
