Watch cricket video highlights of New Zealand tour of India 2024. Third test between India and New Zealand. Venue of the match will be Wankhede.
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Ravindra Jadeja bowled 22 unbroken overs in the sweltering heat and humidity of Mumbai to claim his 14th Test five-wicket haul and help knock New Zealand out for 235. However, India squandered their lead by losing three wickets in the final two overs of the day, finishing at 86 for 4. Jadeja had to work more harder for his wickets than New Zealand did by the end of the day. It included bowling throughout the middle session, with Washington Sundar, who took four wickets, leaving the field to rehydrate, and the hitters taking refreshments every three overs.
Jadeja’s came at the right moment, as Daryl Mitchell and Will Young, both half-centurions, threatened to run away with a large total on a surface that provided enough indicators with puffs of dust and inconsistent spin that it would be a nightmare for the side batting last. Mitchell and Young scored 87 runs in a fourth-wicket stand that appeared to be under threat from dehydration more than bowling. The collapse from 159 for 3 to 235 all out provided some relief for India, who were hoping to escape their second-ever home whitewash and gain valuable World Test Championship points.
However, the final two overs – Yashasvi Jaiswal bowling a reverse sweep, the nightwatcher burning a review, and Virat Kohli running himself out – were a letdown for them. That’s because they were in a good position after Tom Latham won another key toss and was given the opportunity to bat in the best batting conditions of the match. He spearheaded New Zealand’s early advances, despite losing Devon Conway to Akash Deep from around the wicket. A pace assault without Jasprit Bumrah would only go so far.
R Ashwin came on to bowl as early as the eighth over, the last time of the day he was regarded the most likely spinner to take wickets. Latham scored 28 off 44 until Washington’s perplexing one-two knocked him back. Washington took away the top of his off stump by beating the inside edge one ball and the outside edge the next, both from a nearly same place and with near identical seam orientation. For the third time in three attempts, Washington struck Rachin Ravindra’s off stump with an almost similar delivery, leaving New Zealand on 72 for 3.
Young and Mitchell were apprehensive in the half hour leading up to lunch since both of their edges were frequently threatened. However, after lunch, the pitch settled down for about an hour and a half. With temperatures reaching 37 degrees, excessive humidity along the shore, and little breeze, this workout put everyone’s fitness to the test. Every two of overs, the batters were given a drink along with chilled cloths or ice packs around their necks. The ball spun sometimes when Jadeja slowed it down, but he was seeking for a rapid turn.
Young and Mitchell, however, appeared at comfortable. Young used sweeps and reverse sweeps effectively, but he also danced down the wicket to languidly loft the ball. This was Young’s first fifty of the series, despite the fact that he appeared to be the most comfortable hitter on either side. Washington, Siraj, and Ashwin bowled from the other end, but Jadeja kept going from his own. Toward the conclusion of the workout, he achieved what he wanted: a fast turn. Now he was within it. Young edged to slip one, which turned at 94 kph.
Blundell hit off at 92kph after seeing one pitch on the leg. Puffs of dust began to surface more often. Jadeja now has complete control. He continued targeting the stumps with modest adjustments in speed and the odd undercutter. He knocked out Glenn Phillips with a non-turner, moving above of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma in India’s top five wicket-takers list. India opened the final session with Jadeja and Washington, which will harm Ashwin. Jadeja quickly dismissed Ish Sodhi and Matt Henry in the same over.
Sodhi was bowled on the off side by Jadeja’s slowest wicket-taking ball, which turned and stayed low. Whatever the support staff did to Mitchell after the tea break worked, as he recovered enough stamina to strike three sixes in three Washington overs after struggling to run during the middle session. Mitchell did not farm the strike with the No. 10 for company, but he committed a mental blunder by steering a flat delivery straight to slip, as coaches do during catching exercises. Not before scoring 82, however.
Ajaz Patel, who was expected to improve drastically from Pune, smashed a six before padding up to a non-turning ball, giving Washington his fourth wicket. Rohit Sharma got some early luck when Will O’Rourke dropped him at long leg, but his aggressive approach meant he committed too much to a strong stroke when Henry appeared one ball away. The Rohit who traveled to England in 2021 would have had time to bail out, but he only made it to second slip. Jaiswal and Shubman Gill braved the storm, allaying worries of a repetition of what happened in Pune.
They even began to dominate the bowling with a 53-run second-wicket partnership. Then, with approximately 10 minutes to go, Jaiswal was out on the reverse-sweep, the first time he had attempted the shot in Test cricket after 14 prior attempts for 36 runs. Ajaz then bowled possibly his best ball to Mohammed Siraj first, pitching on leg and striking off. Siraj, for whatever reason, chose to evaluate it. During the DRS controversy, Kohli stepped in for the first time this series without an applaud for the wicket before him.
Part-time spinner Ravindra attempted the traditional left-arm-spinner-full-toss trick, but Kohli edged past the lethal ball, which had been his downfall in the last Test, with a boundary. Despite striking the ball solidly enough to mid-on, he was unable to overcome his inclination to run with the shot. Kohli could only live if Henry misfielded or missed. He did neither.
