Mumbai: Though Balckcaps spinner Azaz Patel’s 10-wicket haul scripted a new page in Cricket history, Indian bowling attack spoilsport the visitor team’s batting on the second day of the second Test in Mumbai.
Taking a massive stride towards a series victory, the men inn blue dismissed the New Zealand for a paltry 62.
The New Zealand innings finished even before the Indian bowlers were nicely warmed up and it was understandable that Kohli wanted some batting time against a battered opposition which would give him and Puara requisite confidence.
The team ended up scoring the lowest total by an overseas side on Indian soil.
The Black Caps batted 14.4 overs less than what their premier spinner took to get all the Indian players out.
They didn’t even let the feat sink in before Mohammed Siraj’s (3/19) hostile four over spell literally decimated them. There were two deliveries that straightened and had enough pace to beat the batter’s defence while the other was a mean bouncer.
Ravichandran Ashwin (4/8 in 8 overs) and Axar Patel (2/14 in 9.1 overs) were expectedly just too good on this track. The opposition batters simply couldn’t counter the turn and bounce.
By the end of the day, India were 69 for no loss in their second innings with Virat Kohli deciding against enforcing the follow-on in second and final Test.
Cheteshwar Pujara, coming out to open in place of an injured Shubman Gill, looked good during his 29 not out while Mayank Agarwal, after his fine 150 in India’s first innings total of 325, remained unbeaten on 38.
On the first day of the fixture, on Friday, Patel had scalped four wickets, and shortly after the proceedings began on Saturday, he trapped Wriddhiman Saha leg before to complete his five-wicket haul.
Going into the lunch, India was at 285, with Patel claiming all the six wickets. In his final spell in the post lunch session, Patel clinched the remaining four wickets to enter into the record books.
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