MUMBAI, December 4
New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel claimed the rare honour of bagging all 10 wickets in an innings before India demonstrated their own bowling might to take control of the second and final Test at the Wankhede Stadium today.
The Mumbai-born Ajaz became only the third player in international cricket to take all wickets in an innings after England off-spinner Jim Laker and India leg-spinner Anil Kumble, but New Zealand could not stop the hosts from getting to 325.
In reply, New Zealand could bat only a little over two hours before being bundled out for 62 to concede a first-innings lead of 263.
India decided against enforcing the follow-on and then tightened the screws by reaching 69 for no loss in their second innings, stretching their overall lead to 332 runs at the close of the second day’s play.
Cheteshwar Pujara opened the batting in place of Shubman Gill, who suffered a blow to his right elbow while fielding close to the wicket, and was unbeaten on 29 with Mayank Agarwal 38 not out.
Fiery Siraj
On a pitch offering plenty of assistance to the spin bowlers, India’s Mohammed Siraj, left out of the first Test in Kanpur, bowled with aggression and pace with the new ball to rattle the touring side. The fast bowler sent back New Zealand’s stand-in captain Tom Latham, Will Young and the experienced Ross Taylor to reduce them to 17/3 in his opening spell.
After Siraj’s initial blast, the top-ranked Test side’s batters surrendered meekly to India’s spinners.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up four wickets for eight runs as the New Zealand innings folded in just 28.1 overs.
Agarwal continues show
The hosts’ first innings total was built on a stroke-filled 150 from opening batter Agarwal.
Resuming on 221 for four, India lost two early wickets to Ajaz but kept accumulating runs.
In his first over of the day the 33-year-old Ajaz, whose family immigrated to New Zealand in 1996, dismissed Wriddhiman Saha to complete his third five-wicket haul in a test innings and then had Ashwin bowled on his next delivery.
All-rounder Axar denied Ajaz the hat-trick and then combined in a 67-run stand for the seventh wicket with Agarwal to keep India on course towards a sizeable total. — Reuters
SA tour: Tests, ODIs on, T20Is later
Kolkata: The Indian cricket team’s tour of South Africa will go ahead but the team’s departure has been postponed by a week and T20 Internationals are no longer a part of the schedule, the cricket boards of the two countries announced today. This ended the speculation surrounding the series after a new Covid-19 variant in South Africa triggered anxiety. The four T20Is will be played at a later date and Cricket South Africa (CSA) said it will confirm the venues for the new schedule in the next 48 hours. The Indian team was originally set to leave on December 9 but after the change in plans, the Test series will start on December 26 instead of December 17. PTI
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