New Delhi: A day after the chips were down for Rohit Sharma & Co. the Indian batters oozed solid batting outing to put themselves in a position to salvage a favourable result in the next couple of days. At the stumps, India were 231 for 3 with 125 runs still behind.
Virat Kohli’s dismissal at the end of the gameplay will certainly be a turning point for the match, but the tone is set for India to make a sensational comeback in the Test after a massive collapse on the second day in the overcast conditions. Whether the decision to bat first after the toss or not is a moot point now. The only way ahead for India is to mount a formidable lead in the first couple of sessions on Saturday and inflict a Black Caps batting slump in a similar fashion their bowlers did earlier in the game.
Thanks to the ferocious batting intent shown by openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (35) and Rohit Sharma (52) to enunciate that they have burried the ghosts of Day 2, where the hosts endured its lowest total (46-all-out) on home soil. One could feel the sense to bat aggressively coupled with vigilance in the openers’ style of delivering the runs. It wasn’t the carnage that Bangladesh batters suffered a few weeks ago in Kanpur, but it was a statement for New Zealand that this time they aren’t here to surrender.
Rohit was fluent while flicking the balls of his pads, his foot moment being immaculate. He kept Matt Henry under the pressure, the same bowler instrumental for India’s falldown in the first innings. Jaiswal, on the other hand picked well the lines of William O’Rourke, the one who complemented Henry in wreaking the havoc. The southpaw made room to put the ball in the off-side area against Ajaz Patel’s turn.
Patel gave New Zealand the breakthrough with the dismissal of both openers. While Jaiswal was lured for the big hit and saw himself getting stumped, Rohit shifted gears to defend a straight ball only to connect the lower timber before the ball bumped and crashed onto the stumps.
Sarfaraz, Kohli carries the momentum
Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan, two of the five Indian batters to walk back to the dugout with a nought in the first innings, took the authority after the openers were sent packing. It was a combination of flair and experience that India wanted to stabilise their ship, before it could sink again. Kohli regained his mojo after finding a cut shot against Ajaz Patel, creating ample of room to fetch a boundary.
It was that one shot which he needed to ignite his best version. Even after Rohit’s dismissal, Kohli kept the runs, flowing with cover drives as always reviving the old memories fresh of a young Delhi boy. He smashed Ajaz Patel for a six and a couple of fours in the 30th over. It was just moments before he completed his 31st fifty in Tests, and then reached 9000 runs in the format, becoming only fourth Indian to do so.
For Sarfaraz, it was just hanging out their, getting into the groove, lending a help to his senior, and then bringing all the experience of toiling in the domestic circuit. Playing the unorthodox as well as the conventional shots with flamboyance. The sumptuous upper cut off William O’Rourke’s bowling in the 25th over was something he has tried for innumerable times in the Indian domestic circuit.
Just when the confidence was reinstated for India with Kohli and Sarfaraz building partnership of 136 runs for the fourth wicket, the senior man feathered the ball behind the wickets with Glenn Phillips getting the breakthrough for the tourists. It was the moment when the stumps were called, leaving the match poised enough.
With Rishabh Pant’s uncertain to bat after missing from the field on the third day (owing to a swelling on knee on Day 2), the Indian middle order have to show stoicism and bat for two sessions with the same intensity shown by their top four batters. Only a healthy lead can allow them to put a foot on the winning path. For New Zealand, strike early wickets, again script a collapse, and outrightly defeat the hosts by an innings or perhaps set themselves a minuscule target.
