Late wicket salvage New Zealand’s opening day

Daryl Mitchell and others during the Test series in India
Daryl Mitchell and others during the Test series in India (PC: BLACKCAPS/X)

Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar shared nine wickets between them to snuff out New Zealand for 235 on day 1 of the final Test at the Wankhede. However, the visitors made a strong comeback by picking up wickets at the fag end of the final session to leave India precariously placed at 86 for 4.

Most of the action in the last session happened just before the stumps were drawn. At 78 for 1, Yashasvi Jaiswal attempted a reverse-hit and was castled by Ajaz Patel. It was an unnecessary premeditated shot from the southpaw. Mohammed Siraj, the night-watchman, was trapped in front by Ajaz, but he took the review and the ball-tracker showed it would crash into the stumps. To make matters worse for the hosts, Virat Kohli attempted to steal a non-existent single and was run out on the back of a direct hit from Matt Henry. 

Earlier, It was Jadeja who spearheaded the spin attack for India. However, Jadeja too struggled to find his rhythm. At the right juncture, he found the ideal pace for the wicket, alongside subtle changes in angles and natural variation off the deck to engineer a collapse. In the 45th over, Jadeja dismissed the well-set Will Young for 71, with Rohit Sharma grabbing the catch in the slip cordon. 

In the same over, he castled Tom Blundell with the one that turned off the deck. Glenn Phillips then was then dismissed by a delivery that went on with the angle while Ish Sodhi played back to a ball  that kept relatively low and was trapped in front. By the time he cleaned up Matt Henry, the spin-bowling all-rounder had collected yet another Test five-for. 

Washington Sundar, who provided him good support, removed Daryl Mitchell (82 runs) and Ajaz Patel to wrap up the innings. Jadeja finished with figures of 5 for 65 while Washington took 4 wickets for the cost of 81 runs. Despite the regular fall of wickets, Mitchell played with a sense of purpose. He used the depth of the crease to negate the spinners. Mitchell’s reach also helped him to get to the pitch of the ball. His lofted shot against Sundar in the 64th over of the innings capsulises the point. Young, who shared a stand of 87 with Mitchell, also put on a fine exhibition of batting against spin.

The track has enough purchase for the spinners, and India would have to bat very well to eke out an innings lead. New Zealand have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series by winning the first two Tests.

Brief scores: New Zealand 235 (Daryl Mitchell 82, Will Young 71; Ravindra Jadeja 5-65) lead India 86/4 (Ajaz Patel 2 -33) by 149 runs