Team India fought, but it all ended in disappointment as the hosts fell short of New Zealand’s target of 147 by 25 runs on the third day of the Test match.

Ajaz Patel emerged as the pick of the New Zealand bowlers, returning with figures of 6/57 in the second innings ably supported by off-spinner Glenn Phillips who picked 3/42.

Here’s the recap of how the match unfolded

Sundar-Jaddu’s crucial stand

With the wicket offering assistance to the spinners, right from Day 1, the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar wreaked havoc to dismiss New Zealand to a paltry total of 235.

Ravindra Jadeja ended with 5-65, his 14th fifer in Test match cricket while Sundar, turned out to be New Zealand’s nemesis once again, returning with figures of 4-81. 

For the visitors, Daryl Mitchell (82) and Will Young (71) were the top scorers as only two other batters managed to reach the double-figure mark. 

In reply, India got off to a decent start with the bat but a flurry of wickets towards the end of Day 1 enabled New Zealand to claw their way back, putting India precariously placed at 84-4.

A promising start to the day courtesy of Pant & Gill

Day 2 started with Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant in a great festive mood as the duo counter-attacked the Kiwis and put up a valuable 96-run stand for the fifth wicket.

Rishabh Pant scored an entertaining 59-ball 60 while Shubman Gill missed out on a deserving century, getting dismissed on 90.

It’s Sundar… Again!

The dismissal of the two led to India losing a couple of wickets cheaply in quick succession with Ajaz Patel emerging as the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand with five wickets.

However, some late strikes from Washington Sundar (38 off 36 balls) with the bat, allowed the hosts to go past New Zealand’s total and gain a slender but important 28-run lead.

Spin, spin & more spin!

In the second essay, Indian bowlers were up to the task once again with Akash Deep picking up a wicket in the very first over of Tom Latham.

Thereafter, it was a complete spin dominance as New Zealand kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin spun the web around the Kiwi batters and dismissed them for 174 setting a target of 147 for India to chase.

Jaddu once again was the pick of the Indian bowlers ending with figures of 5/55.

In the end, it was not to be!

In pursuit of the target, the Indian team lost early wickets with half of the side back in the pavilion for 29. However, a vital 42-run stand for the sixth wicket between Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja followed by a crucial quickfire 35 off 34 ball partnership between Pant and Sundar rekindled the Indian hope for victory.

The wicket of Rishabh Pant turned out to be a turning point as the southpaw scored a valuable 64 runs in tough circumstances. Later, Ashwin and Sundar tried to provide some resistance but once Ashwin was dismissed, the rest of the batters succumbed, eventually resulting in Team India falling short of the target by 25 runs.