Live Updates

  • 5:27 PM IST

    You can read Kaustubh Mayekar’s match report. Join us in our live video session on YouTube and Facebook. It was a wonderful Test. We will join you in the ODIs. Meanwhile, you can keep following us in CricketCountry.

  • 5:22 PM IST

    Pujara in his interview revealed, “I told Gauti bhai (Gambhir) that I can’t run so well so please be careful. I did not have hundred in my mind.”

    “There will be lot of fun in the dressing room today and the talking point will be me smacking a fast bowler over his head (laughs).”

    This was his 2nd fastest 100. He was India’s best batsman in this series.
  • 5:18 PM IST
    The moment! No.1.

  • 5:17 PM IST

    Virender Sehwag sums it pretty well: “The process begun under Sourav Ganguly and then Anil Kumble said that we need to be the No.1. Under Dhoni we won the mace and now again when Kumble is the coach and Kohli the captain.”

  • 5:15 PM IST

    Ashwin has 7 Man of the Series awards. Equalises Wasim Akram and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

    Ashwin – 14 series, 7 awards
    Akram – 43 series, 7 awards
    Chanderpaul – 60 series, 7 awards
    Ashwin is now behind Shane Warne, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Jacques Kallis and Muttiah Muralitharan
  • 5:12 PM IST

    Kane Williamson says his side is young and they will go back with a lot of experience. Kohli hails the team performance. Kohli wishes Ashwin and says he is in a different zone.

  • 5:09 PM IST
    Ashwin is catching up with the Lankan champ.

  • 5:08 PM IST
    Whew. Phenomenal. Ashwin has played in 14 series and in 7 of them, he has won this.

  • 5:07 PM IST

    “I feel really good about my bowling and my confidence is sky high.” – Ashwin.
    With 27 wickets at just over 23, Ashwin is the Man of the Series too. This is his 7th MOS award.

  • 5:06 PM IST

    13 wickets for Ashwin. He is the Man of the Match. Ashwin thanks the Indore crowd as it reminds him of Test matches of the 90s where crowd flocked to watch Test cricket and he was a young spectator. Ashwin says he bowled outside the wicket.

  • 5:04 PM IST

    Kohli will be presented the mace and Ravi Shastri will be holding the presentation ceremony.

  • 5:01 PM IST

    What a win this was for India! The Indoris are chanting ‘Kohli, Kohli, Kohli’ and now all the players names are being chanted around.

  • 4:48 PM IST

    Ravichandran Ashwin has registered his best bowling figures — 7 for 59.

    Virat Kohli becomes the 3rd Indian skipper to register a whitewash (3 or more Tests). The other two are Mohammad Azharuddin (twice) and MS Dhoni (once).
  • 4:46 PM IST

    Dramatic end! It’s over. Caught and Bowled. It is getting over today. India win by 321 runs.

  • 4:45 PM IST

    Strange, Boult did not take the single. Watling would have been facing Ashwin. 4 more balls to survive.

  • 4:43 PM IST

    Impressed with Watling’s temperament. Had New Zealand shown this application earlier, the Test would have gone till late Day 5. He sweeps for another boundary. 150-up for New Zealand.

  • 4:41 PM IST

    No he does not! Only 2 overs to go in the day.

  • 4:40 PM IST

    Ashwin to Trent Boult. Will he finish it off in this over?

  • 4:39 PM IST

    LIVE – New Zealand 144/9 (42), Target 475 | BJ Watling 14 (54), Trent Boult 4 (20): Play has been extended for half an hour. Can Ashwin claim another wicket and register his best figures? The last wicket has frustrated Indian. They have batted over 7 overs.

  • 4:20 PM IST

    Ashwin is in this league:

  • 4:20 PM IST
    Will Ashwin register his best bowling figures?

  • 4:16 PM IST
    LIVE – New Zealand 138/9 (35), Target 475 | BJ Watling 12 (32), Trent Boult 0 (0): Ashwin gets his 21st five-for. Goes for a terrible sweep and the ball crashes on to stumps. Henry is the new man in and goes for a heave over mid-off. It was tossed up and Shami takes a simple catch. Six for Ashwin.

    Umesh Yadav comes from the other end.

    OUT! Jeetan Patel b R Ashwin 0 (2)
    OUT! Matt Henry c Mohammed Shami b R Ashwin 0 (3)
  • 4:13 PM IST

    Matt Henry too surrenders meekly. Two wickets in that over.

  • 4:09 PM IST

    Jeetan Patel is bowled. Terrible shot. No application. Spineless batting. 21st five-for for Ashwin.

  • 4:06 PM IST
    LIVE – New Zealand 136/7 (33), Target 475 | BJ Watling 10 (24), Jeetan Patel 0 (1): That is a proper off-spin. Spins straight. Pad and onto stumps. Santner gone. Another 10-wicket haul for Ashwin.

    Mitchell Santner b Ravichandran Ashwin 14 (24)
  • 4:02 PM IST

    And that is 10-wickets for Ashwin. Santner out!

    His 6th 10 wicket haul. He goes past Bedsar, Waqar, Qadir, Steyn, Akram and Harbhajan. Joins the league of Imran, Underwood and Herath. What a player!

  • 4:01 PM IST
    This is how Sehwag wished India’s batting coach and his former teammate Sanjay Bangar



  • 3:58 PM IST

    Ashwin in back in the attack. Santner will not allow him to settle down, picks the full toss and deposits it in the long-on stand. SIX!

  • 3:54 PM IST

    This series has seen 33 LBWs, the most in a three-match series in the subcontinent.

  • 3:52 PM IST

    LIVE – New Zealand 122/4 (29), Target 475 | BJ Watling 6 (10), Mitchell Santner 4 (15): Shami is unlucky. An edge that goes for four and Santner survives a close leg before call. Hits him on middle and off, umpire thinks its going down but might have gone on to hit. Santner was clearly beaten for pace.

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Good Morning, Namaste, Ram Bhiya as the Indoris would like to say! Welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Day Four of the third and final Test between hosts India and visitors New Zealand at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. I am Suvajit Mustafi, and I will be bringing to you all the live updates from this ongoing Test. Indore got a taste of their first match in whites and till now the turnaround and crowd involvement has been terrific. They not only got to enjoy their first Test but also witnessed Virat Kohli’s 2nd double century along with Ajinkya Rahane‘s 188 and Ravichandran Ashwin‘s six-wicket haul. India have tightened their nose in the final Test and look set for a whitewash. India lead by 276 runs and will like to give New Zealand a big target and press for another emphatic win. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs New Zealand, 3rd Test at Holkar Stadium, Indore

After posing a mammoth score of 557 for 5 declared in their first innings, India were looking to run through the New Zealand batting line-up. New Zealand started the day at 29 for no loss and were going strong at 118 for 0 but Ashwin again came and wreaked havoc of New Zealand’s batting. Kohli’s go-to man broke the shackles and dismissed the in-form Tom Latham. The southpaw scored his third half-century of this series but again failed to convert it into a three-figure mark. Martin Guptill regained some form but went for 71.

Then began the Ashwin vs Kane Williamson contest. Before this innings, Ashwin had got the better of him thrice. And it only 6 balls for the Indian spinner to dismiss the New Zealand captain. He perished the same way he did in the series opener. Ashwin tossed it up well outside off, into the rough and ferociously jabbed in. By the time Williamson could read the ball, he dragged it onto his stumps.

With the quick fall of wickets, India were back in the driver’s seat. There were lots to look forward to in the post lunch and tea session as India were tightening the screws against New Zealand. James Neesham was the only player who promised to stay for long but went for 75 off 115 balls. Apart from him, BJ Watling and Mitchell Santner got starts but perished whereas Ross Taylor, Williamson and Luke Ronchi went for no shows with the bat.  Also read: Thank you, BCCI, for Test cricket in Indore

Neesham, who replaced pacer Neil Wagner, scored a crucial 71-run knock, including 11 staggering boundaries, taking his team to 299 all-out. All the same, Ashwin bagged his 20th five-wicket haul in only his 39th match. He is now placed fourth in the list of most five-wicket hauls for India in the longest format.

India, however, did not enforce follow-on and batted for 9 overs instead. In other news, Gautam Gambhir’s shoulder injury flared up when he came to bat. After a medical treatment, he decided to retire hurt. India’s No. 3, Cheteshwar Pujara joined Murali Vijay in the middle. India ended Day Three at 18 for no loss with the lead standing at 276 runs. India will like to bat out for a few more overs, maybe a session or two, and declare with a strong total left for New Zealand to chase.

New Zealand are very much standing at the brink of another loss and will have to play out of their skin and display lots of character to avoid a whitewash.