India vs New Zealand Day 5: Kiwis record first Test win in India after 36 years

BENGALURU: With a washout against Afghanistan, 0-2 defeat against Sri Lanka, change in leadership and a poor record in subcontinent, the New Zealand side was pushed to the corner coming into the three-Test series here in India.

But on Sunday, it broke its 36-year winless streak by defeating India in its ‘den’ by eight wickets in what was an enthralling five days of Test cricket, here at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The heroics of Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant with the bat, and a lethal spell from Jasprit Bumrah on the final day were ultimately outdone by the superior performances of Kiwi quicks Matt Henry and William O’Rourke, as well as Rachin Ravindra’s brilliance with the bat.

This was only the fifth instance India lost a Test match at home since 2012. From that time, India have played 54 Test matches and emerged victorious in 42 games, drawing seven times.

On the start of Day Five, the Kiwis only needed 107 runs to win, with all 10 wickets remaining. The start of the play was delayed by an hour due to drizzle and when it did get under way, Bumrah gave a perfect start by dismissing Tom Latham (0). Umpire Michael Gough signalled out straight away even as the entire Chinnaswamy crowd appealed for the wicket.

In the first hour’s play, New Zealand batters were all at sea trying to negotiate the Indian pace attack.

Devon Conway was under constant panic while playing Bumrah who was operating from the pavilion end. He was dismissed in the 13th over when a full-length delivery swung in after pitching, beat the outside edge and hit right on Conway’s back pad. At that time, New Zealand was 35 for two.

While the threat that Bumrah posed kept the contest alive, Will Young was looking set at the other end, facing Mohammed Siraj, and the sun that came out that time didn’t help India’s cause as the ball-movement became much more predictable.

Young batted till the end alongside Ravindra, the first-innings centurion, to add 75 runs and help New Zealand cross the line a few minutes before the end of first session.

Along with the added bad decisions India made that backfired in the game starting from the coin toss, it would now wonder if the choice of playing three spinners on this wicket that had nothing to offer for them was right. In hindsight, an extra pace option would have surely helped India to show some spunk against the Black Caps, who benefitted from having that extra pacer.

The pace trio of Matt Henry, William O’Rourke and Tim Southee wreaked havoc, picking up 17 wickets in the game.

New Zealand jumped two spots in the World Test Championship (WTC) and currently sits at fourth spot. The second Test will be played in Pune from October 24.

Brief scores: India 46 & 462 lost to New Zealand 402 & 110/2 in 27.4 overs (Will Young 48 not out, Rachin Ravindra 39 not out)