Good Morning, Namaste, Ram Bhiya as the Indoris would say! Welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Day 3 of the third and final Test between hosts India and visitors New Zealand at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. I am Abhishek Mukherjee, and I will be bringing to you all the live updates from this Test. Indore got a taste of their first Test in this venue and what a turnout it was! They not only got to enjoy their first Test but also Virat Kohli’s 13th century and the first batsmen in the Indian team to reach this milestone in this Test series. India are pretty much on driver’s seat after posting a massive total of over 500 and will look to dismantle New Zealand at the earliest. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs New Zealand, 3rd Test at Holkar Stadium, Indore
Day 2 saw Virat Kohli scoring his second double ton in Test cricket and was equally supported by Ajinkya Rahane who also score 188 but unfortunately missed out on a double ton. Kohli played fearlessly and took on the New Zealand bowlers with unmatched confidence. New Zealand bowlers had a tough time in the field as they looked hapless and were clueless out in the middle. New Zealand batted well for nine overs on Day 2 as Tom Latham and Martin Guptill remained unbeaten and will look to score some massive runs to help their side put up a fight. Kane Williamson is back into the side, which give a boost to their batting line up as he has been the spine of their attack. One can expect a lot of action on Day 3, as it is an important day for both the teams and will probably decide the fate of this Test.
Kohli will to attack and chip early wickets with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the attack. Both the spinners have been instrumental behind India’s successful campaign in the series so far. Kohli will be looking forward for them to deliver and end the series on a high, which will give them confidence to do well in the upcoming One-Day International (ODI) series. Ashwin has bowled magnificently and so has Jadeja. New Zealand batsmen have a mountain to climb at Indore and the day will certainly be interesting.
Earlier, India had won the toss and chose to bat first, which was their seventh consecutive win in the toss. There were no surprises that Kohli had already mentioned the entry of Gautam Gambhir to the side after Shikhar Dhawan injured his thumb. Indore also witnessed the perfect comeback of Gambhir with those lovely boundaries, despite being short-lived. Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara were unable to go all guns blazing this time and were gone in quick succession with New Zealand bowlers getting the early wickets. So Kohli decided to unveil his surprise towards the end of the day and voila, there was his century that all were looking forward to. New Zealand had their skipper Kane Williamson back to the side and their comeback man Jimmy Neesham to the side. The Kiwis decided to rest Neil Wagner and Henry Nicholls instead.
Coming to India’s batting, there are lots of surprises on the way in form of Rohit Sharma, local boy Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin to show their batting expertise. New Zealand will have to work on their strengths with the bowlers taking charge for the day, if they have to win this final Test clash. India lead three-match series 2-0. Given they are in the driver’s seat, they are likely to clean-sweep New Zealand. Not that they have not whitewashed New Zealand before. Those were two-match series, as a matter of fact. If they beat New Zealand 3-0, this would be the first instance. Over 18,000 attended the match. They showed the same energy the crowds these days show in shorter formats. Never seen before experiences Indore were witnessed in Indore with chants ranging from Gambhir to Sachin Tendulkar to Virender Sehwag. ALSO READ: Captain Kohli’s homecoming
Now that Kohli has already swept the way for century, Rahane will also want to take the same path and get one on his name as well on Day 2. India can go big with their total, knowing the batsmen who will will take the center stage if any fall of wickets takes place. New Zealanders have been unlucky throughout the series. And Day 1 was no different as they had to face wrath of Kohli on the other side. However, knowing New Zealand have the knack of bouncing back in the most bizarre way possible, one can find them coming back on track either with their ball or bat.
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