Mitchell Santner, never more than three wickets in an innings or six in a match, bowled New Zealand to a historic win in Pune with match figures of 13 for 157, the third-best by any visiting bowler in India. Mitchell Santner bowled 29 overs on the trot for six wickets in the second innings to go with his unbroken spell of 19.3 overs in the first innings for 7 for 53 to give New Zealand their first series win in India and India their first home series defeat since 2012.
Mitchell Santner picked a five-wicket haul in both innings, recording his best-ever figures in First-Class cricket as the visitors registered their maiden series victory on Indian soil since their first visit to the country in 1955. No other cricketer from New Zealand was able to achieve the feat before Santner, and only Ravichandran Ashwin from India has dismissed five batters twice in an India-New Zealand Test match.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : The color of the pitch remains the same – black soil in both Bangalore and Pune. On a good length area, it’s a lot more dry and a lot more devoid of grass. The team winning the toss should bat first, and there will be enough assistance for spinners from ball one reckons Simon Doull and Dinesh Karthick in their pitch report.
Toss : New Zealand skipper Tom Latham won the toss and chose to bat with one forced change in the playing XI with first match hero Matt Henry got replaced by Mitchell Santner due to glute niggle. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma bowling first made 3 changes in the playing XI replacing Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj and KL Rahul with Washington Sundar, Akash Deep and Shubman Gill .
Day 1 : Washington Sundar’s 7-fer bundles out NZ for 259 on opening day in Pune
Washington Sundar’s career-best 7 for 59 triggered a collapse as New Zealand fell from 197 for 3 to get bundled out for 259 on the opening day of the second Test in Pune. India went to stumps on 16 for 1. It was the first fifer for an Indian spinner at the venue, which offset the half-centuries stroked by Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra earlier on Thursday.
Washington, who was drafted into the squad only a few days earlier, was introduced into the XI at the expense of Kuldeep Yadav. India made two more changes to the side that had lost the opening Test, with Mohammed Siraj and KL Rahul making way for Akash Deep and Shubman Gill.
New Zealand had made a quick start to their innings with a flurry of boundaries against Akash Deep, while Jasprit Bumrah kept the scoring tight from the other end. However, the introduction of spin in the eighth over immediately paid dividends with R Ashwin trapping Tom Latham leg before with a delivery that straightened a touch.
However, for most of the first two sessions, while the spinners were largely in operation, the batters found run-scoring rather easy even as they weren’t taking too many risks. The pitch was slow and the spin troika of Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington compensated that by operating at high speeds. They did manage to beat the bat on numerous occasions and even hit the pads several times, but there was rarely any danger for the batters.
Will Young departed rather unfortunately to a delivery by Ashwin that spun past him and brushed his glove down the legside, something which Sarfaraz Khan at short leg spotted and goaded Rohit Sharma into taking the review. But Conway and
Rachin Ravindra, carrying his form from Bengaluru, ensured that the Indian spinners had to work hard for their scalps. Conway went on the offensive against Bumrah right after the Lunch break, driving a half volley by the pacer to bring up his half-century, following that up by a couple of more hits to the fence in the same over.
Just when he seemed settled for a big innings, he went chasing at a half-tracker by Ashwin and edged it to the ‘keeper, handing the offspinner his third wicket of the innings.
For 3 hours and 45 minutes, despite the three dismissals, New Zealand seemed comfortable in the middle for a long haul. However, all of that dramatically started to change 15 minutes before Tea, starting with the dismissal of Ravindra, who was squared and cleaned up by a sharply turning delivery from Washington. The office then had Tom Blundell bowled through the gates in his next over, which shifted the momentum in India’s favour heading into the break.
In the second session, where the pace of the wicket had allowed New Zealand to break free, including Ravindra who stepped out to hit Jadeja for a six, the batters were able to cope with the spin-challenge. However, the absence of moisture in the third session, backed up by a lot more variation in pace by the spinners, triggered a batting collapse.
Washington, who kept testing the offstump with his off breaks, was the beneficiary of that collapse. While Mitchell was trapped leg before and Glenn Phillips holed out to Ashwin at long off, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel and Santner had their stumps knocked over, deceiving them with flight and turn.
Washington bagged four wickets in his last four overs to swiftly clean up the tail. All the 10 wickets fell to off spinners. Even as the momentum had shifted drastically in India’s favour, the hosts too had their set of challenges in the dying minutes of the day’s play. Rohit Sharma was squared up by an away-moving delivery from Tim Southee and bowled for a duck. Gill and Yashaswi Jaiswal remained unbeaten but not untroubled heading into stumps on Thursday.
Day 2 : Mitchell Santner, Tom Latham put India under the pump on Day 2
Mitchell Santner and Tom Latham starred in a dominant day for New Zealand as they put India under the pump in the second Test in Pune. The visitors put on an excellent show with the ball to stun the home side and then went on to extend the lead beyond 300 by stumps on the second day.
The day began on a positive note for India as Shubman Gill and Yashaswi Jaiswal dealt in boundaries. However, Gill’s dismissal triggered a collapse from which the hosts never recovered. Virat Kohli completely missed a low full toss to get bowled and the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant followed suit. Even though the pitch played tricks, poor shot selection led to some of the dismissals.
India’s long batting order didn’t come to aid them either as six wickets fell in that morning session with Mitchell Santner leading the charge. Post lunch, with only Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja left as recognized batters, the latter decided to take his chances and reduce the deficit. The approach was quite effective as Ajaz Patel was put under some pressure. But Jadeja’s charge was halted by Mitchell Santner as he completed his five-fer before finishing with seven.
With the surface increasingly expected to get difficult to bat on, New Zealand were determined to add runs quickly. An arm ball from Washington bagged the big wicket of Rachin Ravindra but Daryl Mitchell swept his third ball for a boundary signaling his intentions. Washington eventually got his man as Mitchell couldn’t time a slog to perfection, to get caught at long on.
The wickets didn’t stop the flow of runs though as New Zealand continued to milk the bowling attack. In fact, India didn’t bowl a single maiden in the first 40 overs of the innings. Washington’s 11th wicket of the Test ensured Latham missed a ton but his 86 is now a massive contribution considering the context of the Test match.
Day 3 : Mitchell Santner takes 13 to hand India their first home Test series defeat since 2012
It didn’t start well for India. The first ball from Ashwin produced an edge that Rohit Sharma didn’t go for. Tom Blundell and Phillips added a quick 33 to the overnight score. That Jadeja turned the ball big at a pace in the mid-90s was only a promising sign for New Zealand. Even full balls were difficult to hit out as Mitchell Santner and Ajaz discovered with catches in the deep.
Before that, though, India needed a breakthrough, which arrived with a natural variation that went past Blundell’s inside edge. That it was Jadeja’s first wicket of the match emphasized where India lost the match: a rare outbowling of two of their greatest match-winners, who had brought them 18 consecutive series wins at home.
It was no surprise that India came out swinging with the bat after they had been pinned to the crease in the first innings. Jaiswal drove at a wide length ball first up, but the edge fell just short of gully. It didn’t stop him from flicking the second ball for a six, the first of his three, which took him level on the record for most sixes in a calendar year.
He employed both the sweep and the charge at the spinners to mess with the bowlers’ lengths. The margin for error was almost non-existent as he hit out at Tim Southee, Ajaz and Phillips. His extra-cover drive for a six off Phillips on this pitch was a jaw-dropping shot.
It is not often that New Zealand spinners bowl them to a Test win on their own. Here Mitchell Santner was being asked to do it on his own having never taken more than three wickets in a Test innings before this Test. He was the only one who maintained some control during the Jaiswal onslaught.
Mitchell Santner got the better of Rohit first as he got the ball to dip on him and the extra bounce got the bat-pad dismissal. Shubman Gill, who had got stuck on the crease with Jaiswal in the first innings, came out attacking, and the two added 62 in under ten overs to leave New Zealand nervous.
It’s not that the pitch had eased out. The intent of the batters left the bowlers under intense pressure, and every small error was being punished. In essence, though, all the spinners had to do was draw consistent forward-defensive prods from the batters without getting driven. The moment Mitchell Santner started doing that, he started creating chances. Then he bowled flatter while still being full, pushing Gill back and taking the edge with the turn for the first of two sharp catches for Daryl Mitchell at slip.
The next one was Jaiswal, a classic turning-pitch dismissal. The first part of it was to find a spot that Jaiswal could neither go back to nor drive from. Then the first ball turned big to beat his inside edge, and the next one went straight on to take the edge for Mitchell. Not a mean wicket to bring up your first ten-wicket haul.
Rishabh Pant then paid the price for not saying no. Virat Kohli played one behind square and started running. The ball had gone to Mitchell Santner’s left. Pant had every right to send Kohli back, but he ran through. Not even a dive was enough to get him in.
It was like Mitchell Santner didn’t have a side strain to nurse. Between overs, he would keep stretching, but swooped in on balls in his vicinity and you couldn’t take the ball away from him. He made Kohli play back to a fullish ball, which trapped him lbw. Sarfaraz Khan fell to a slow teasing ball that turned and hit off stump.
Phillips finally got on the board when Will Young pulled off a stunning catch at short leg to send back India’s hero of the match, Washington. Ashwin and Jadeja looked the most comfortable batting pair as they added 39 for the eighth wicket, teasing India with the question of what if they hadn’t lost so many wickets by the time the older softer ball stopped behaving wildly.
It was Mitchell Santner who broke the partnership by luring Ashwin into a drive and taking the edge to Mitchell Santner. The wait for the final wickets was frustrating but it came through outfield catches off Ajaz, who ended up protecting his record for the best match figures for a visiting bowler in India.
Mitchell Santner (6-104) followed up his career-best figures of 7-53 from the first innings to lead New Zealand to a series-clinching 112-run win over India in the second Test in Pune. The defeat is India’s first series loss at home since 2012, thereby ending a long streak that lasted for 18 bilateral series in a row.
The writing was on the wall at the Tea break on Day 3 with India needing 181 more runs to stay in the game. While Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have bailed India out of crisis situations aplenty, particularly on home soil, this was a bridge too far for the veterans.
The duo did stitch a 39-run stand to delay New Zealand’s victory march but Santner inevitably broke partnership by getting Ashwin to edge one to Daryl Mitchell at first slip. Jadeja (42) fought a lone battle to try and take the game deep into the day but with no.10 and no.11 for company, it was just a matter of time.
After taking 24 balls to get off the mark, Akash Deep couldn’t resist the temptation of the big shot and holed out against Ajaz Patel. Jasprit Bumrah entertained the crowd with a six and a four off Santner before Jadeja became the last to fall, miscuing a slog against Ajaz.
The foundation of New Zealand’s 112-run win was set up by their clinical precision with bat and ball. On a black soil Pune surface that was dry and spinning, toss was always going to be a crucial element in the game and Tom Latham had the luck going his way in his first game as full-time captain. Fifties from Devon Conway (76) and Rachin Ravindra (65) helped the visitors to get a strong foundation even with the pitch playing tricks. In hindsight, their knocks were pivotal as New Zealand later collapsed in a heap to Washington Sundar (7-59)
Conway and Ravindra were composed in their strokeplay, more so the latter who was at his fluent best on a tough pitch. New Zealand would have hoped for a score in the 300-325 range with the duo’s efforts but Sundar in his comeback game ran riot, making full use of the conditions on offer. The last seven New Zealand wickets fell for just 62 runs as India gained momentum in the game after an erratic start on the opening day. That joy, however, was short-lived as the visitors produced a telling performance on the second day.
Like Sundar, it was a comeback game for Mitchell Santner too although the gap wasn’t as long for the left-arm spinner. Having endured a disappointing series in helpful Sri Lankan conditions, the pressure was on Mitchell Santner, not just in the context of this game but also for his red-ball future. He responded grandly, by slicing through the Indian batting unit like a knife through butter.
His tall release, trajectory and masterly changes in pace were a deadly combo on a Pune pitch that seemed a landmine every time he bowled on it. India didn’t help their cause either as the approach against spin was timid in the first innings.
Yashaswi Jaiswal (30) and Shubman Gill (30) got starts upfront while Ravindra Jadeja (38) also managed a few runs but that substantial innings was missing for the home side. The meek surrender to Mitchell Santner’s guile meant a huge first innings lead of 103 for New Zealand, a game-defining advantage on this kind of a surface.
From then on, India were only playing catch-up and their only realistic chance of getting back into the game was if they could restrict New Zealand to a total in the 100-125 range. Those hopes were quickly dashed as the Black Caps came out with intent from the get-go in their second innings, led by Latham (86).
The overwhelming pressure of protecting their enviable unbeaten streak at home on a turning pitch seemingly weighed heavily on India’s spinners as Ashwin and Jadeja struggled to get the control that Santner had. In fact, the latter picked up his first wicket of the game only on the third morning.
It was Sundar (4-56) again who made things happen with timely strikes but he found little support from the other end. New Zealand ended the second day at 198/5 and with the lead having touched the 300-run mark, the result appeared to be a foregone conclusion already.
Jadeja found his bearings today in the morning session as New Zealand were bundled out quickly but the target of 359 on this pitch needed a miracle. The Indian Test side had produced some outrageous results in recent years but even factoring that in, this was a task too steep.
There was better intent in the chase, particularly from Yashaswi Jaiswal (77) who set the ball rolling with an explosive innings but Mitchell Santner was the nemesis once again for the Indians. He continued to run through India’s batting unit and the strike of Jaiswal followed by Rishabh Pant’s run out for a duck effectively killed whatever minimal hopes that India may have had.
Having failed to get a fifer in First-class cricket before this game, Mitchell Santner nailed two in the same match with a 13-wicket match haul to lead New Zealand into the history books. Among a plethora of records that were shattered, being the first team to win a series in India in 12 years stands tall. For the second game running, India were outplayed after having been out of answers on a seam-friendly Bengaluru surface.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Rohit Sharma the loosing skipper said : Disappointing. It’s not what we expected. Got to give credit to NZ – they played better than us. We failed to capitalize on certain moments. We failed to respond to those challenges. And we sit here today. Didn’t think we batted well enough to get runs on the board. You’ve got to pick 20 wickets to win, yes, but batters have to put runs on the board.
Was a great fightback to restrict them to 250-odd but we knew it was going to be challenging. When they started off, they were 200/3 and for us to come back and get them bowled out for 259 was a great effort. Wasn’t a pitch where a lot was happening. We just didn’t bat well enough.
Things would’ve been slightly different had we got a bit closer in the first innings. We want to show up well at Wankhede and try and win that Test. It’s a collective failure. I’m not somebody who would blame just the batters or the bowlers. We will come out with better intent, better ideas and better methods at Wankhede.
Tom Latham the winning skipper said : Really special feeling. Proud to be in this position. Whole team effort and a clear example of everyone pitching in. When you come over here you want to put your best foot forward. Putting runs on the board at the start was really important. Have to mention Mitch Santner. He was fantastic.
Has been around the group a long time, and to finally get a break and bowl the way he has – credit to him. It was about trying to stick to our basics and play the long game. Both surfaces have been different, we’ve needed to adapt and we’ve done that very well. The method we played with last night – to put ourselves on the front foot – was terrific. The way GP played this morning was really important.
We knew India were going to come out hot. Didn’t realize they were going to come that hot, but we managed to get the breakthroughs in the middle session. Those last two wickets took an age but when Tim took that catch we were really happy.
Mitchell Santner Player of the Match for his 13 wickets said : Not really (bowled differently in second innings?). Felt a little harder this time. Credit to India for the way they came out. That was the best way on that wicket. We were just hanging in. My side’s a bit sore. 20-odd overs in a row. I guess in that kind of situation you just want to keep going. Every time I got a wicket it felt a little better.
Nice to contribute to the team. Winning a series over here is very tough. Obviously very pleasing for us. Every time you take wickets you feel confident. Landing the ball in the same spot all the time with little changes in pace – that’s what we try and do as a spin unit.
History made in Pune as New Zealand win their first Test series in India. It’s one of the biggest wins of the century against a team that had not lost at home since 2012. Not just that, India had won 18 consecutive series before this one, and were heavy favourites to win all the matches in their pursuit of a finals spot in the WTC. New Zealand, on the other hand, lost 0-2 in Sri Lanka very recently.
They had a new captain in Tom Latham, and a relatively inexperienced lineup in the absence of Kane Williamson, with only Latham and Southee having over 30 Test caps. But against all odds, and against a champion team, they have pulled off something quite sensational, wrapping up the series with a match to spare. No wonder they are in raptures as they get together as a group in celebration. Indian players walk out for handshakes. This has been just incredible.
India have been left to reflect on a couple of disappointing Tests. They got the short end of the stick in Bengaluru, misreading conditions and opting to bat on a pitch which had plenty in it for the terrific seam attack of Matt Henry and co. And now they’ve been completely outplayed on a dry turner in Pune. Two completely different set of conditions, and New Zealand have conquered them both. The pitch in this second Test had plenty for the spinners, but India were off the mark with the ball with the exception of Washington Sundar.
Ashwin and Jadeja were underwhelming, and it was Washington – a late inclusion in the squad – who stood out as he showcased his potential with a brilliant seven-fer on that opening day. The pattern wasn’t too dissimilar with the ball for New Zealand either, with one man leading the show. Santner and Washington, both tall spinners, got a lot more out of the pitch. To add to that, Santner had his variations in pace and trajectory as well.
On top of all this, New Zealand’s approach with the bat – playing a lot of sweeps and reverse-sweeps – didn’t allow India to settle either. India, in contrast, didn’t go to those shots too often.
Mitchell Santner, take a bow! The control with which he bowled on a dry and turning pitch here in Pune was delightful to watch. There was enough help in the pitch, and he used it to full effect with excellent variations in pace and trajectory without leaving that good length spot. He’s such a good bowler in limited-overs formats, but his Test career has never really taken off. Had never even picked up a five-for before, and now he has two in a single game with a performance for the ages.
Hidden somewhere underneath the glamor of a nigh perfect home record since 2012 is the inconvenient truth of a faltering, steadily depreciating batting unit. A batting unit that has been sheltered by a well oiled, experienced spin bowling unit and by freaks like Jaiswal and Pant who’ve defied cricket logic to stave them off defeats.
It has taken a rather innocuous but extremely effective peck by the Kiwi to rattle this regal Indian elephant, and hopefully wake it up from a long hidden batting malaise. Everyone knew that a transition was coming soon enough with so many of the Indian players on the wrong side of 30, but maybe, just maybe that transition is already upon us…
Well, who saw that coming! Even after the defeat in Bengaluru, it was hard to argue that India were favourites on a pitch that was nothing like the one at Chinnaswamy. But New Zealand rose to the challenge in some style! Mitchell Santner, the Test bowler, where have you been Brought in on a turner, he managed to out bowl the Indian attack and ended up with 13 wickets in the match.
So this result shakes up the permutations and combinations in the World Test Championship. One more Test to go in Wankhede, and New Zealand probably won’t mind the conditions there either. For now, though, they can soak in the enormity of what they’ve achieved, bringing down an Indian behemoth in their own backyard. With the series defeat, India’s record of 18 consecutive bilateral home series wins have come to an end – the longest such sequence for any team.