Taking the sparkle out of the Diwali mood, team India was bowled out for just 46 runs in a span of the first session of day’s play on Thursday. India after winning the toss missed the opportunity to give their bowlers a crack against New Zealand in overcast conditions after day one got washed out due to rain, which bamboozled their batting strength on day two in Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
India’s total of 46 has now become the lowest team score at home after 75 all out against West Indies in Delhi (1987). India who were riding sky high in ICC world Test Championship (2023-2025) got stunned by Kiwi bowlers. Matt Henry and William ORourke were the star performers under the grey sky.
Indian Skipper Rohit Sharma was the first wicket down by Tim Southee, Virat Kohli who came after one down which usually is not his position to bat on test matches on unfriendly conditions for batters, this move shifted KL Rahul to number six. However both Virat and Rahul went scoreless and were dismissed by William ORourke.
Matt Henry who achieved a five wicket haul against India’s batting lineup dismissed Sarfaraz Khan, R.Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on ducks and William ORourke took four wickets. India’s scorecard includes five ducks which were the talking point of debaters in India’s innings.
India made some errors right from winning the toss and batting first and switching batting positions at middle order gave New Zealand confidence to dominate this test match. None of the batters gave a prominent display of batting, For India Rishabh Pant was the highest scorer for them (20) while both all rounders R.Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja failed to stabilise the collapse of top order.
New Zealand openers gave a solid start with an opening stand of 67 runs while Kuldeep Yadav gave India first wicket of Tom Latham. Devon Conway made a solid start with his innings of 91, closing the day’s play New Zealand made 150-3 in 50 overs with a lead of 134 runs.
While R.Ashwin and Ravindra Jadega got one wicket each in the bank, Rachin Ravindra (22) and Daryl Mitchell (14) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn for the day due to bad light.
Not only India batters who disappointed to make a mark but also Indian Pace attack who went wicketless after the day’s play. New Zealand who were thrashed down by Sri Lanka (2-0) last month now have a strong possibility to beat India at home.
