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India vs New Zealand 1st Test Day 4: Kiwis face inevitable defeat

New Zealand need 341 runs to win against India in the first Test at Green Park, Kanpur.

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Ravichandran Ashwin celebrating his 200th wicket © AFP

New Zealand need 434 runs to win the first of the three-Test series against India at Green Park, Kanpur. All the same, only twice have the visiting teams successfully chased down 200-plus targets on Indian soil: England in 1972 and West Indies in 1987. Ever since, teams have been caught in trance by India’s bewitching spin-bowling. New Zealand, however, have already felt prey to the same spell. Meanwhile, Mohammad Shami started the proceedings for India, giving only a run. From the other end, Virat Kohli introduced Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s best new-ball bowler. Turn, bounce and excitement: the first ball was eventful.

The ball stung the pitch. It was angled into Tom Latham, drawing him forward. It beat him all ends up. The fun had begun. Spectators were on the edge of their seats. The pressure mounted on the opposition. Meanwhile, Team India was brimming with confidence. They could smell triumph. Shami continued from the other end. A maiden, he bowled this time. The ball was in Ashwin’s hands once again. There was a wry smile on his face. Martin Guptill was on strike. Ashwin came round the wicket. The ball spun in sharply, kissing Guptill’s inside edge and then onto his pads.

Murali Vijay at silly point was all in readiness to pouch a simple catch. He does so. All hands go up in the air, echoing the stadium with a loud appeal. Umpire Kettleborough took his time to replay the dismissal in his mind. He eventually raised him finger and sent Guptill back to the pavilion. Also read: Sehwag sends birthday wishes to the legend, who ‘cheated batsmen with a cherry in hand’

No. 3 bowler in ICC Test Bowler’s rankings drew first blood. In came Kane Williamson one-down. He scored delightful half-century in the first innings. All he had to do was emulate the same swagger. But this time, for a longer period. He took a single to get off the mark.

Latham was on strike. Ashwin came round the wicket, yet again. He angled the ball in, yet again. However, the ball held its line. Latham, instead of getting behind it, played for the turn. And that brought his downfall. He was adjudged lbw. The scorecard read 3 for 2, with New Zealand needing 432 runs to win.

Kohli wasted no time, and brought Jadeja into the attack. Jadeja scalped a five-for in the first innings. Therefore, he knew what length to ball. To add to the fire, he scored an unbeaten half-century in the second innings. He was high on confidence.

He started off with a maiden (remember he once bowled 17 maidens?). The Ashwin-Jadeja duo was in the thick of action. No boundary came in the first 10 overs. New Zealand stuttered at 16 for 2.

Ashwin dropped one short. Williamson, as classy as he could, rocked back and punched it down the ground. Ross Taylor then laced another boundary off Jadeja. The same dynamics repeated in the next two overs. New Zealand, gradually, were finding their feet. Also read: Eden Gardens gears up for India’s 250th Test at home

Ashwin was on 199 wickets. He needed only one to waltz to glory. And it came in the form of Williamson’s wicket (Ashwin could not have asked for better). It was quick. It spun ferociously. Williamson had no time to judge the trajectory. It beat his inside edge, trapping him lbw. It was an easy decision for the umpire.

Meanwhile, Ashwin became the second fastest bowler in Test history to reach 200 wickets. In fact, he is the fastest in terms of number of balls. It took him only 10248 balls to attain the feat.

He just turned 30, and has at least 6-7 years of cricket left in him. At this pace, he is likely to break many records.

In came Luke Ronchi at No. 5. He scored a crisp 38 in the first innings. He knows one way: go all guns blazing. To put things into perspective, he scored a stunning hundred against Mumbai in New Zealand’s practice match. He has IPL experience as well. He knows the subcontinental wickets. Nonetheless, the situation is different. New Zealand face a colossal target against the might of Indian spin attack. Ronchi was mindful that he needs to play a characteristic innings. Also read: Williamson’s dismissal was game-changer, says Jadeja

Taylor was still at the crease. He failed in the first innings, something that must have been looming over his mind.

Ronchi hit straight to Umesh Yadav at deep mid-wicket. Yadav, with his strong shoulders hit the stumps. Taylor reached in time but failed to ground the bat. He was well inside the crease but forgot to land his bat. This is what pressure does, and Taylor succumbed to it. New Zealand were pushed to further trouble.

New Zealand were 56 for 4, facing an inevitable defeat.

Mitchell Santner joined Ronchi. Kohli, all the same, took spinners off the attack for a while, giving them the much-needed rest. Shami and Yadav hit the deck hard. There was no venom for them, to be fair. They varied their pace. They even reverse-swung it. There were close-calls, but they went wicketless. For a while, Santner and Ronchi could breathe easy.

15 minutes for the end of day’s play, and the spinners were back in action. Santner and Ronchi were extremely cautious. They survived the tough time, with New Zealand ending Day Four at 93 for 4.

Brief Scores

India 318 all-out (Murali Vijay 65, Cheteshwar Pujara 62; Trent Boult 3 for 67) and 377 for 5 decl. (Cheteshwar Pujara 78, Murali Vijay 76; Mitchell Santner 2 for 78) lead New Zealand 262 all-out (Kane Williamson 75, Tom Latham 58; Ravindra Jadeja 5 for 73, Ravichandran Ashwin 4 for 93) and 93 for 4 (Luke ronchi 38*, Kane Williamson 25; Ravichandran Ashwin 3 for 68) by 341 runs

Full scorecard

(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)

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