India-New Zealand Test Series: Batting away doubts

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 2 of the low-scoring third Test.

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 a surprise for me... It’s not a typical Mumbai pitch.”

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.

Gill, having ridden his luck, looked well set to score a ton earlier as India inched towards New Zealand’s total after lunch, but the batsman edged spinner Ajaz Patel to slip and departed for a fluent 90. Patel removed Ashwin for six and finished with superb figures of 5/103 as Deep was run out, leaving Washington unbeaten on 38.

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. It’s not going to be easy and we have to bat really well. Ravichandran Ashwin

Early nerves

A late collapse on Friday meant India resumed on 86-4, and Pant eased early nerves by hitting Patel for three boundaries in the opening over before scooping one for four a little later.

Gill was given a reprieve on 45 while looking to charge Phillips midway through the first session, when substitute Mark Chapman dropped a simple catch running in from the deep. He then reached his seventh Test half-century, as the Black Caps struggled to contain the runs after missing a big chance to turn up the heat on the hosts and boost their own chances of an unprecedented 3-0 series sweep.

Pant, who stepped out of his crease and hit Patel out of the park a couple of times and pulled Phillips for a four, then took a single to reach his fifty in only 36 balls, the fastest by an Indian against New Zealand.

Phillips was unfortunate to miss out again when Henry dropped Pant on 53, but Sodhi trapped the batsman lbw to end the fifth-wicket partnership for 96. Jadeja fell early in the second session for 14 when Phillips forced him to edge one to slip, while Sarfaraz Khan was caught behind off Patel for a four-ball duck.

Scoreboard

New Zealand 1st Innings 235

India 1st Innings

Y Jaiswal b Patel 30

R Sharma c Latham b Henry 18

S Gill c Mitchell b Patel 90

M Siraj lbw b Patel 0

V Kohli run out (Henry) 4

R Pant lbw b 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 (Ravindra) 0

Extras: (lb 1, nb 2) 3

Total: (All out, 59.4 overs) 263

FOW: 1-25, 2-78, 3-78, 4-84, 5-180, 6-203, 7-204, 8-227, 9-247

Bowling O M R W

Matt Henry 8 1 26 1

William O’Rourke 2 1 5 0

Ajaz Patel 21.4 3 103 5

Glenn Phillips 20 0 84 1

Rachin Ravindra 1 0 8 0

Ish Sodhi 7 0 36 1

New Zealand 2nd Innings

T Latham b Akash 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: (9 wickets, 43.3 overs) 171

FOW: 1-2, 2-39, 3-44, 4-94, 5-100,

6-131, 7-148, 8-150, 9-171

Bowling O M R W

Akash Deep 5 0 10 1

Washington Sundar 10 0 30 1

Ravichandran Ashwin 16 0 63 3

Ravindra Jadeja 12.3 2 52 4

Clarity of thought worked for Gill

Shubman Gill believes that revisiting all the technical work that he did before the five-Test series against England earlier this year helped him find his bearings during an impressive knock of 90 against New Zealand in the final Test. “Yes, definitely it’s one of my better knocks that I’ve played in Test cricket. In the lead up to this Test, it was all about me working on the areas that I’d worked on before the England series,” Gill said.

“In that series, I was batting at my best against spinners and just to be able to go back into that mindset and what my positions were while playing spinners, that is what I was trying to replicate before this match in practice. The conversation with the coach was just having more repetitions on what I think is the best idea for me to be able to play spinners,” he added.

Gill credited having a clear mindset while batting in pressure situation on a turning track. “I was honestly trying to have fun. I love batting, if I try to think of it as just going out there and having another opportunity to bat for the maximum amount that I can, that is what I was thinking,” he said. PTI