India vs New Zealand Day 3: Rachin’s ton powers Kiwis' lead to 299 runs at lunch despite early blows

BENGALURU: In a bright and sunny morning here at Bengaluru, the Kiwis who already had an overnight lead of 134 runs, survived the early scares of Indian bowlers. With the help of Rachin Ravindra’s century (104*) and a blitzing knock from Tim Southee (49*), they managed to add 165 more runs in the morning session to stand at 345/7 at lunch on Friday.

India started the day in the back seat with its miserable day two, scoring its lowest total in Tests at home. And to add to it they also missed Rishabh Pant in the field today.

Dhruv Jurel continued his stint behind the stumps replacing the injured Rishabh Pant, who walked off the field on day two after suffering a blow on the right knee where he underwent a surgery.

The southpaw Rachin Ravindra, who said it will be “extra special” playing in front of his family who are based in Bengaluru, gave them a reason to celebrate as he single-handedly carried the Kiwis batting in the morning from the start to power to his second ton in long format.

It was a tricky start for the New Zealand batters as Daryl Mitchell was tested by the Indian quicks in the opening spell of the day by not letting him settle. He got off the mark with a soft edge which ran past the slips for a boundary in Mohammed Siraj’s over. And just the ball after, he tried to play a backfoot punch but ended up getting a thick edge which went straight to Yashasvi Jaiswal in gully.

With that dismissal, all bowlers in the team got a scalp each but the World No 1 Jasprit Bumrah. Well that changed two overs after, when he dismissed Tom Brundell (5), who tried to defend but the ball hit the top end of the bat and went straight to KL Rahul in second slip.

Despite the early wickets, Rachin who was accompanied by Tim Southee from the other end, built a partnership of 112* runs which was more than double of the first innings score of India.