India vs New Zealand: Rain stops play after Khan-Pant blitz; India trails by 12 runs on day 4 at lunch
At 344/3, India is trailing by only 12 runs, though a lot of time is left before the fate of the match is sealed.
Image credit: Justin George
BENGALURU: The absolute dominance that New Zealand had exerted in the previous two days slipped away on Saturday, as the 113-run stand between Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant powered India back into the game before rain stopped the play on day four here at Chinnaswamy Stadium.
At 344/3, India is trailing by only 12 runs, though a lot of time is left before the fate of the match is sealed.
The thick, gloomy clouds did not work in favour of the Kiwi pacers like it did in the first innings, as Khan and Pant built on the foundation provided by Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal to establish complete dominance in the play so far.
After eight overs of pace not yielding any wicket, New Zealand captain Tom Latham gave the ball to Ajaz Patel, who tested Pant to some extent by getting a couple of LBW calls. But Pant played his attacking cricket, which was why he was sent ahead of KL Rahul, and reached his half-century in just 55 balls (5x4, 3x6).
From the 356-run deficit, India is trailing by just 12 runs with seven wickets still in hand.