An exciting finish to the opening Test against New Zealand that was a victim of rain on Day 1 at Bengaluru as India had a flying start on Day 5. The team was boosted by Jasprit Bumrah when he struck early, dismissing Tom Latham, the captain, for a duck. However, in a charged atmosphere, 13 dot balls coming off the bat, on the last ball of the first over Bumrah’s pinpoint delivery sealed the fate of Latham and New Zealand as they chased a modest target of 107 runs to create history for the first-ever victory in 36 years on Indian soil.
The Indian bowlers, especially Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, were relentless and piled pressure on the Kiwi batters which helped present a packed day of cricket in overcast conditions. Test cricket being unpredictable, one witnessed India losing its way from a commanding position at 407-3 to 462-9 as the game progressed.
India’s Bowling Brilliance Sets the Stage
On the last day of the Test match against New Zealand, suspended because of rain Jasprit Bumrah did a great job by striking early. On the last ball of the first over, he dismissed his captain Tom Latham. Length delivery from Bumrah on off-stump sharply angled back in and caught Latham off guard.
Then it is a plumb leg before wicket. As of this, it had reached a critical stage of the match, since New Zealand still remained 107 runs away from winning the match and were under immense pressure from the bowling lineup of India. Dampened skies and tensed atmosphere couldn’t have gone any worse than this, what with Bumrah’s sharp bowling and an array of thirteen successive dot balls not making it easy for the visiting side either to get their footing.
More pressure came the way of the second maiden over by Mohammed Siraj. More complexities came in the way of the batsmen from New Zealand. Indian pacers kept a tight grip on the game and made the New Zealand batters feel restless. Virat Kohli and Dhruv Jurel added more intensity to the moment by reminding Will Young and Devon Conway that they had a rather evident crack in the pitch, against whom they would have to play. This had the immediate effect of creating a psychological angle in their minds as Kiwi batsmen were going to face the relentless Indian bowling attack.
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India’s Collapse on Day 4: A Turn of Events
On the fourth day of the Test match, India found itself in an ideal position with the team having salvaged a decent partnership of 178 runs between Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant, which at one stage took it to 407-3. Sarfaraz showed his form with a magnificent 150, while Pant also chipped in with a near-century of 99.
However, the momentum completely turned in favor of New Zealand once they got the second new ball post-Tea, and the Indian batting lineup began to crumble extremely quickly. India lost seven wickets within just 60 runs, making the entire team really reeling and exposing their vulnerability against the quality seam bowling.
Wickets tumbled to prematurely end once-promising innings on 458 runs. Ravindra Jadeja was the first to fall as soon as the new ball was taken, dismissed for just 5 runs by William O’Rourke. Bumrah and Siraj fell for ducks, and also three wickets in rapid succession were taken by Matt Henry. Unfortunately, the batting team failed to capitalize on Yadav’s 6 while holding the fort as the Indian innings ended disappointing. The New Zealand bowlers, O’Rourke in particular and Henry, had match-winner written all over them, taking crucial wickets to show that the game was definitely not over.
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