Twitter Reactions: India's fortress in threat of breach as New Zealand eye epic series win

New Zealand lead by 301 runs after Day 2 with five wickets still intact.

By Koustav Sengupta

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3 Min Read

New Zealand Cricket
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New Zealand Cricket. (Source - Getty Images)

After bowling out New Zealand to 259 runs in the first innings, India had the belief of taking a lead in the second Test in Pune, but in reality, the Kiwi spinners dominated Day 2, restricting the hosts to 156. The Indian top order once again failed to deliver and the pressure fell on Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan, who too couldn’t deliver this time around. Ravindra Jadeja, who top scored with 38 in the end, wasn't enough as New Zealand managed a lead of 103 runs.

Spinner Mitchell Santner dominated Day 2, picking up a career-best seven-wicket haul. The Indian batters looked clueless against him as someone like Virat Kohli missed a full-toss delivery, which went on to hit the timber. Notably, Santner picked up the wickets of Shubman Gill, Kohli, Sarfaraz, Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah while his partner Glenn Phillips dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant.

Also Read: Mitchell Santner’s seven-fer questions India’s preparation for home conditions

India were expected to perform better with the ball in the second innings but that didn’t happen. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, two of India’s greatest spinners often dominated on such pitches, but the duo struggled big time on Day 2 as New Zealand were in well control of the second Test in Pune.

Captain Tom Latham had a good outing, scoring 86 runs, and that helped the BlackCaps take a massive lead in the Test. They surpassed India’s first innings total rather comfortably as New Zealand finished the day with 198/5 on board. They are leading by 301 runs after Day 2, and it’s needless to say that the Rohit Sharma-led side will find it extremely difficult to find a way to go to win the match.

In case they don’t, India will suffer their first home Test series defeat in 12 years. They dominated every opponent in home conditions but this time around, New Zealand seem to be better prepared as both their batting and spin department have done a tremendous job in the game so far. 

Here's how X reacted to the action on Day 2 of the Pune Test:

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