Before the start of Day 5, the match was finely poised. Tom Latham’s wicket off the second delivery ignited hope in the Indian camp, but Will Young stood firm for his team, forging partnerships with Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra to steer New Zealand to a remarkable victory. They successfully chased down the 107-run target with 8 wickets to spare, taking a 1-0 lead in the series.
This win was particularly historic, marking New Zealand’s first Test triumph on Indian soil in 36 years, toppling a team that has been dominant at home for years. It’s a memorable day for New Zealand Cricket, with the men’s team making history in Bengaluru and the women’s team aiming to do the same later today in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa in Dubai.
Despite having only 107 runs to defend, India showed grit and determination in their defence. The conditions were ideal for fast bowling, and India made the perfect start. Jasprit Bumrah bowled a superb inswinger to trap New Zealand skipper Latham in front, delivering the first blow. With no runs on the board, the visitors lost their most experienced Test batter in the current squad, and the pressure was on. Bumrah bowled well, as did Mohammed Siraj. The ball was swinging all around, repeatedly beating the bat, especially that of Conway.
Both Bumrah and Siraj made life at the crease a nightmare for the left-hand batter. Conway was being hit everywhere – on the thumb, the thigh pad, and elsewhere. Bumrah kept targeting his body with the occasional fuller ball to tempt him into driving. India tried several tactics, and while they worked to an extent against Conway, he somehow managed to survive, occasionally finding boundaries. He was just about hanging in there. But when it looked like he might see off the new ball, Bumrah, given an extended spell, once again trapped Conway in front, this time by going around the wicket.
Young, however, looked very composed. Whether facing pace or spin, he had answers to all the questions posed by India’s bowlers. The Kiwi No. 3 was decisive in his footwork and authoritative in his strokeplay, anchoring the run chase with assurance.
Ravindra walked in and picked up from where he left off in the first innings. Fresh from his century, he was full of confidence. While Bumrah had been unplayable in his first spell, Ravindra struck two quick boundaries off his bowling either side of square. He got off to a good start and capitalised on it. Once he had faced a few overs, the pacers were removed from the attack, and the spinners came on, leading to runs flowing at a rapid pace. There was little happening for the spinners – the odd ball turned sharply, but both batters had enough time to go on the back foot and find gaps with ease.
Ravichandran Ashwin was kept out of the attack for far too long. In fact, he wasn’t brought on to bowl until New Zealand needed only 10 runs to win, which was surprising. Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav had bowled earlier without extracting much from the wicket.
Brief scores: India 46 all out (Rishabh Pant 20; Matt Henry 5/15) and 462 all out (Sarfaraz Khan 150, Rishabh Pant 99; Will O’Rourke 3/92) lost to New Zealand 402 all out (Rachin Ravindra 134, Devon Conway 91; Ravindra Jadeja 3/72) & 110/2 (Will Young 48*, Rachin Ravindra 39*; Jasprit Bumrah 2/29) by eight wickets.