India's too slow a start and New Zealand's disciplined bowling meant they never got the chance to break free and rotate the strike.
India women's team ODI series against New Zealand will now begin on February 12, said New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on Friday. As per the now revised schedule, the first of the five ODIs will begin from February 12, a day later than the original date.
Starting the day at 140 for five, the victory target of 540 was simply out of reach for the Black Caps but Jayant, who had not looked in good rhythm on the third evening, suddenly found his mojo with a career-best spell of 14-4-49-4 having last played a Test match in 2017.
New Zealand's hopes now rest with Nicholls (36 not out) and Rachin Ravindra (2 not out) as they survived the few overs remaining for the day. Ravindra, who had denied India victory in the first Test at Kanpur holding the fort with last man Ajaz Patel, would be hoping to do the same but this time India has too much time left in their hands and New Zealand too few wickets.
Ajaz Patel was the best New Zealand bowler on the day as he claimed 4/106 in the second innings for overall 14 wickets in the match -- the highest taken by any bowler against India ever.
Early in the morning, New Zealand pacer Tim Southee tested Agarwal and Pujara with some short ones. Agarwal was hit on his unprotected elbow when he tried to pull a short one and had to seek the services of physio Nitin Patel twice.
"The stars have aligned for me to do it in Mumbai," New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel said Saturday said after achieving the rare feat of scalping all 10 batters in an innings at the city of his birth.
The whole cricket fraternity heaped praise on Patel for his stupendous feat of taking all 10 wickets in an innings of a Test match. Most of them termed the feat as an ‘unreal’ and a ‘special effort’.
Iyer, who had kept a cautious eye while defending and rotating the strike, stepped out to smash Ajaz Patel for a six down the ground. He then reached his half-century in 109 balls, becoming the first Indian batter to get a century in the first innings and then follow it up with a half-century in second innings on debut.
After the break, Ashwin was bowled by Ajaz Patel, beaten by a ball turning sharply from outside leg-stump. Patel got his second wicket of the match by trapping Ishant Sharma plumb lbw. Sharma took the review but replays showed the ball hitting top of middle and leg stump, completing a comeback by New Zealand, picking the last six wickets for 87 runs.
Batsman KL Rahul has sustained a muscle strain on his left thigh and has been ruled out of the two-Test series against New Zealand.
Tim Seifert (17) and Lockie Ferguson (14) also chipped in with the bat for the Kiwis but it wasn't enough to save them from a huge loss. Axar Patel (3/9) was the most successful bowler for India.
Then there's Ishan Kishan and Yuzvendra Chahal, who could get some game time if first-choice players are given rest. One can expect Venkatesh Iyer to be given a go with the ball to showcase his medium-pace skills.
It was the 5th successive 50-run stand between Rohit and Rahul in T20Is. In search of wickets, New Zealand introduced spin and it worked well for them. Both Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner bowled in tandem and put brakes on the scoring rate as batters failed to find boundaries for a few overs.
The duo's remarkable effort in the middle gave the pace attack some respite and newcomer Harshal Patel, who made his T20I debut four days shy of his 31st birthday, returned with impressive figures of 2 for 25.
Head coach Rahul Dravid believes that New Zealand can't be called underdogs all the time. "New Zealand are a very, very good side, make no mistake about it. You don't need me to say that. It's almost become fashionable to call them underdogs but that narrative has changed. They have beaten us in big games but therein lies an opportunity for us."
While the good news is that the match shall be played in front of a sizeable crowd with the host association refusing to put any restrictions on entry of spectators with even single shot of Covid-19 vaccine, the other side of the story is that the strict Covid protocols shall limit the smooth entry of audience in the stadium and it would not be a cakewalk for them to enter stadium like pre-Covid times.
India 110/7 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 26 not out, Hardik Pandya 23, Trent Boult 3/20, Ish Sodhi 2/17) lost to New Zealand 111/2 in 14.3 overs (Daryl Mitchell 49, Kane Williamson 33 not out, Jasprit Bumrah 2/19) by eight wickets
After the Power-play, New Zealand stemmed the run-flow by not conceding any boundaries in the middle overs. Sharma mistimed his pull to long-on off Ish Sodhi in the eighth over.
New Zealand could eke out only a 32-run lead in the first innings as India, powered by pacer Mohammed Shami's four-wicket haul (4/76), dismissed the Kiwis for 249 on the fifth day of the rain-hit World Test Championship final here on Tuesday.
Earlier, India were all out soon after the lunch interval. Ajinkya Rahane ended up as the top scorer with 49 (117 balls, 5x4s) while captain Virat Kohli scored 44 (132 balls, 1x4) and Rohit Sharma made 34 (68 balls, 6x4s).
India skipper Virat Kohli shook off some pressure of playing the World Test Championship (WTC) final by saying one Test wouldn't decide the best team in the world.
The oldest format of the game is set to be the last to get a World Championship final of its own. After a lot of discussions, a lot of confusion and a lot of chop and change, India and New Zealand will be playing for the mace.
For the connoisseurs of the glorious game, Test cricket is the ultimate format and despite its aura, the 144-year-old history needed a facelift along with a context which the World Test Championship provided despite various bottlenecks, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
India named six batsmen, five pace bowlers and two spinners along with two wicketkeeper-batsmen in the 15-member squad for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand
While New Zealand are already in England for a bilateral series against the hosts, the Virat Kohli-led Indian team will arrive in the UK on June 3 after competing a 14-day quarantine period in India
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