Rachin Ravindra and Tim Southee spoiled India’s high-flying session by forging an unbeaten 112-run partnership, handing New Zealand complete control of the opening Test on Day 3 in Bengaluru on Friday.
At the end of the first session, New Zealand posted 345/7 in 81 overs, with Ravindra and Southee unbeaten on scores of 104 (125) and 49 (50), respectively. New Zealand went to lunch with a healthy lead of 299 runs.
It all started with Mohammed Siraj opening the floodgates and paving the way for a comeback for India. Daryl Mitchell tried to punch the ball away but only managed to get a thick outside edge, which was comfortably taken by Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully. While completing the catch, Jaiswal ended up hurting himself and required a bandage on his injured hand.
Jasprit Bumrah capitalized on the momentum and removed Tom Blundell before he could get a grasp on the surface. Struggling to pick Bumrah’s length, Blundell couldn’t decide whether to go forward or move backward. He tried to cushion the ball away and ended up nicking it to KL Rahul at second slip.
After Glenn Phillips arrived at the crease, Rachin Ravindra continued to lead the charge from the other end. The constant rotation of strikes and Ravindra’s ability to pick holes in India’s field kept the hosts at bay.
India skipper Rohit Sharma was quick to react to the situation and introduced Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav to limit the damage. Rohit’s move instantly paid off, with Jadeja keeping it straight to clean up Phillips (14). Matt Henry smashed back-to-back boundaries to keep the visitors’ scoreboard ticking. In Jadeja’s next over, he swung hard and found the boundary rope on two successive occasions. The experienced Indian spinner stung Henry back by keeping things simple. He invited Henry to slog him away, and the Kiwi player happily accepted the invitation. Henry went for a wild swing, missed the ball completely, and allowed the ball to blow the bails away from the stumps.
With New Zealand stuck in a peculiar situation, Ravindra and Southee dug deep to derail India’s high-flying bowlers. The duo took the brunt of scoring runs in patches and perfectly executed their plan of attack. Southee took on Ravichandran Ashwin and sent the ball straight over his head into the stands for a towering maximum. The Indian side, which had done well until that point to keep New Zealand’s runs in check, struggled to maintain control. Southee kept coming out of his crease to effectively deal with the spinners, cheekily pulling out sweep shots that made Ashwin look out of his depth.
Rachin wasn’t inclined to try something fancy and relied on conventional shots. With a sweep, he raised his bat for a century in Bengaluru, a place deeply rooted in his family tree. With the new ball available, India decided to stick with the old one in their hunt for wickets. However, Southee just kept going and ended the session one run shy of a half-century.
Brief Score: India 46 (Rishabh Pant 20; Matt Henry 5-15, William O’Rourke 4-22) vs New Zealand: 345/7 (Rachin Ravindra 104*, Tim Southee 49*, Devon Conway 91; Ravindra Jadeja 3/72).