Rishabh Pant scores fastest half-century for India against New Zealand in Tests at Wankhede

A nervy period of play at the fag end of Day 1 in the third Test between India and New Zealand saw India lose three wickets in the span of nine deliveries. Fortunately, for Rishabh Pant, it was only the final delivery he had to deal with before Stumps. Pant managed to nudge the ball to the off-side for a single.

It was the intent which he brought to the India's innings on the second day was what was heartening to see. Three of the first four deliveries he faced were creamed away for boundaries, as it was clear that the prime motto was being on the lookout for runs. Pant raced on to 40 after a majestic reverse-sweep which he nearly middled was followed up by a vicious charge to completely disrupt Ajaz Patel's flow for a maximum which thudded into the sight screen.

A couple of overs later was when Pant brought up his half-century off just 36 deliveries. Interestingly, it was the fastest by an Indian batter against the Kiwis in Tests. The previous quickest was by Yashasvi Jaiswal who notched up the milestone in 41 deliveries in the previous Test in Pune. Before Jaiswal, there were two others who had achieved the landmark in 42 balls - Harbhajan Singh in Hyderabad (2010) and Sarfaraz Khan in Bengaluru (2024).

Match teeters on knife-edge after Conway, Rachin depart in quick succession

As far as the ongoing game is concerned, the match hangs in the balance after a 90-run knock by Shubman Gill powered India to 263, which seems to be a competitive total on a tricky surface. A late surge by Washington Sundar was vital in contributing to the total as well.

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Skipper Tom Latham was dismissed by Akash Deep in the very first over of New Zealand's second innings. Devon Conway and Will Young managed to calm the waters for a considerable period. However, it was a wonderfully-flighted delivery by Sundar and a tantalizing carrot dangled by Ravichandran Ashwin to get rid of Conway and Rachin Ravindra in a short space of time.