Twitter Reactions: India fight back but New Zealand still ahead in Bengaluru
As India were two down within 100 runs, Virat Kohli and Sarafraz Khan took the onus and started scoring at a brisk rate.
New Zealand started Day 3 with Rachin Ravindra smashing the boundary off Mohammed Siraj on the very first ball of the morning. He continued milking runs even as India managed to pick wickets from the other end. Dary Mitchell (18) was the first one to depart and Tom Blundell (5) followed. Ravindra could not get any support from the other side as Glenn Phillips (14) and Matt Henry (8) were cleaned up by Ravindra Jadeja.
However, the left-hander finally found an able support in Tim Southee as the duo took the Indian bowlers to the cleaners. The former notched up his second Test ton while the latter brought up an attacking half-century. The pair stitched a 137-run stand for the eighth wicket as the visitors kept adding runs to their lead. By the time Kuldeep Yadav picked Ravindra (134 off 157), the Kiwis had scored 402, taking a massive lead of 356 runs.
Also Read: Southee surpasses Virender Sehwag’s Test sixes tally
For India, the spin duo of Kuldeep and Jadeja picked three wickets each while Siraj contributed with two scalps. Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah toiled hard but fetched just one wicket, while veteran spinner Ashwin had an off day too, picking one wicket after giving away plenty of runs in the morning session.
Despite the hefty deficit, India openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal started on a positive note. The duo put up a 72-run stand for the first wicket before Jaiswal (35) was stumped off Ajaz Patel’s ripper. Rohit (52) started getting to his usual groove but was the victim of an unfortunate bowled by Patel.
As India were two down within 100 runs, Virat Kohli and Sarafraz Khan took the onus upon themselves and started scoring at a brisk rate. They maintained a run rate as high as a run-a-ball in their partnership at times brought up their half-centuries. However, just before the stumps, Kohli nicked one to the wicketkeeper as India ended Day 3 on 231 for three and trail by 125 runs with Sarfaraz remaining unbeaten on 70.
Here's how 'X' users reacted to Day 3 of first Test:
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