IND v NZ, 1st Test Day 3, Review: Unbeaten fifties from Vijay and Pujara put India in a dominant position

With the endeavor to clock in a few more overs on the day, it seemed pretty clear that India and New Zealand would begin the play a tad bit earlier than they did on the previous two days. While the Kiwis had dominated proceedings on the previous day, the Indians seemed to be all over New Zealand in the morning session. They were all over the Kiwis like a rash, as Ravi Shastri went on to describe.

With the ball beginning to turn as much as it did, Virat Kohli began giving Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin extended spells. Of course, the likes of Murali Vijay and Rohit Sharma chimed in with an over or two of off-spin, but the overall plan was the keep the opposition down. The wee hours at Kanpur thus saw Kohli’s ploy working wonders.

Tom Latham was the first to go as he was trapped leg-before attempting what was a failed sweep shot off the bowling of Ravi Ashwin. In spite of earning his reputation as a gritty and patient batsman, Kane Williamson’s sudden urge to get the ball away failed as he was undone by a beauty of a delivery from Ravi Ashwin. The ball bounced and turned a country mile as the New Zealand skipper was on his way back to the haven of the dressing room.

Ross Taylor’s well-documented issues with the alien conditions in the subcontinent continued as he became the second victim of Ravindra Jadeja, once again an LBW that was turning into a horror show as far as the visitors were concerned. Luke Ronchi impressed with some impressive batting on the day as he and Mitchell Santner began to frustrate the Indians with some patient batting.

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While the duo took the attack to the opposition, Luke Ronchi seemed to be in his invincible best as he patiently waited for the India spin twins to slip up and put the bad ball away to the fence. Santner and Ronchi went on to add 40 supremely crucial runs in the grand scheme of things as India’s lead crept below the 100-run mark.

In spite of this, the fourth LBW shortly before the lunch break saw Ravindra Jadeja claim yet another wicket. This time, it was the important wicket of Luke Ronchi as the batsman strolled off the park with barely a few minutes to go for lunch. Santner and BJ Watling kept the Indians at bay as they concluded the session with New Zealand at 238-5. At the end, India had claimed their first session win since the second session on Day 1.

The post lunch session saw the Indians capitalize on the breakthroughs in the morning session with some spectacular bowling from Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin. The final five wickets fell for just 24 runs as the lower order and the subsequent tail had no answers to the spin twins.

The first to fall after lunch was Mitchell Santner, something that inadvertently paved the way for the Indians to complete the innings. En route to his five-wicket haul, Ravindra Jadeja stood on the brink of a hat-trick, something that was most certainly unprecedented at the time.

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Although he did not claim his hat-trick, Jadeja and Ashwin gave the Indians a healthy lead of 56 runs. Attempting to stall the play and stitch an important partnership, KL Rahul, and Murali Vijay made their way out to add to the lead.

In spite of the slow build-up, the duo began to showcase their solidity whilst batting. While Murali Vijay batted in the patient and accumulation way that he does, KL Rahul once again took a much more aggressive approach to his batting.

Although the 24-year old began slowly, he began to find his rhythm by smashing the ball to different parts of the stadium. His positive approach saw the Indians increase their lead quite substantially before disaster struck at the stroke of tea. An attempted late-cut from KL Rahul saw Ish Sodhi claim the first wicket of the innings as the Indians went into the tea break at 52/1.

The fall of Rahul was, however, the only moment of joy for New Zealand as Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay then carried the Indian innings on their shoulders propelling the Indian total to end at 159/1 at stumps.

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Williamson continued to attack the Indians with his spin bowling trio of Mark Craig, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner. But, Pujara and Vijay proved to be too smart for the Kiwis and played out the entire session adding 107 runs for the second wicket.

Both Pujara and Vijay tried to gain momentum with an attacking approach. There was entertainment for the spectators initially as the ball was hit to the boundary ropes quite regularly. Their initial aggression successfully neutralised the Black Caps spinners. But, the duo soon calmed down as the session progressed.

But, their calmed approach did not shift the balance at all. Both batted with command and looked least bothered in the middle. Vijay went on to complete his half-century and Pujara, too, ended the day after reaching his fifty in the last over before the stumps. Thanks to their steady batting, India now sit comfortably at the top with a lead of 215 runs lead.

Brief Scores

India, 1st innings: 318 all out

New Zealand, 1st innings: 262  (K Williamson 75; R Jadeja 5/73)

India, 2nd innings: 159/1 (M Vijay 64; I Sodhi 1/29)

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