NEW DELHI: Washington Sundar‘s career-best performance of 7/59 helped India bowl out New Zealand for 259 on Day 1 of the second Test in Pune. However, the hosts lost captain Rohit Sharma early when stumps were drawn on Thursday.
India finished the day at 16 for one in 11 overs, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (6 not out) and Shubman Gill (10 not out) at the crease. They trail New Zealand by 243 runs in the first innings.
As it happened| Scorecard
Tim Southee dismissed Rohit Sharma for a nine-ball duck, forcing India to adopt a cautious approach. This cautiousness was influenced by the poor first innings in the Bengaluru Test that loomed in their memory.
Rohit Sharma faced his third clean-up of the series, and his second by Southee. Attempting to defend, the ball moved away from his bat, crashing into the off-stump.
Southee thus became the first fast bowler to take a wicket in this Test. The Indian spin duo of Sundar and R Ashwin (3/64) had dominated until that point.
Washington Sundar, playing his first Test for India since March 2021, took charge after Ashwin claimed the first three wickets. Ashwin moved past Nathan Lyon on the highest wicket-takers list.
Ashwin started by trapping New Zealand captain Tom Latham (15) in front of the wickets and getting Will Young (18) caught behind in the first session. Sundar then took the spotlight towards the end of the second session.
Sundar initially bowled economically as New Zealand’s batters aimed to consolidate, but his persistence paid off.
He shifted the momentum in India’s favor with two late wickets in the second session, including the in-form Rachin Ravindra. This left New Zealand at 201/5 by tea.
Ravindra’s dismissal before the tea break was pivotal. New Zealand struggled to recover and folded without much resistance in the final session.
Rachin Ravindra, who seemed set for another substantial knock, was stopped by Sundar’s brilliance.
Of his seven wickets, Sundar clean-bowled five, trapped one in front, and had one caught by Ashwin.
Among those clean-bowled were Ravindra, Tom Blundell (3), Mitchell Santner (33), Tim Southee (5), and Ajaz Patel (4).
The highlight was Sundar’s dismissal of in-form Ravindra. Sundar’s delivery spun away, beating Ravindra’s bat and crashing into the off-stump, preventing a balanced attack and defense.
Devon Conway top-scored with 76 off 141 balls, including 11 fours, but became one of Ashwin’s three wickets at the top.
Conway used reverse sweeps against the spinners and drives against pacers effectively to accumulate runs. However, he missed out on a century by edging an innocuous delivery outside off to be caught behind off Ashwin.
New Zealand faced further difficulties with skipper Latham and Daryl Mitchell unable to find form despite spending considerable time at the crease.
