2nd Test: Santner takes New Zealand closer to historic series win over India

New Zealand stand three runs shy of clinching a historic series win over India on Day 3 of the second Test in Pune on Saturday. Both teams went for Tea after India were reeling at 178/7 with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja unbeaten with scores of 9(10) and 4(13), respectively. With the first Test series defeat at home on the cards for India under head coach Gautam Gambhir, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill continued to keep the hopes of rewriting the history book alive by completing the mounting 359-run chase against the Kiwis.

But once again it was Mitchell Santner who haunted India's batters with his sheer accuracy to take New Zealand closer to victory. Gill (23) walked back pretty early in the session and Jaiswal (77) edged one to Daryl Mitchell. Washington Sundar was promoted up in the order to join stalwart Virat Kohli at the crease.

The duo adopted a defensive approach, which allowed New Zealand bowlers to keep the flow of play in check. Mitchell Santner trapped Kohli (17) in front of the stumps with an arm ball and Rishabh Pant ran himself out to further increase India's woes. Sarfaraz Khan failed to deal with a ball that spun away from his bat and crashed into the stumps. Sundar was forced to return to the dressing room after Will Young took a sharp catch. Earlier in the match, on the opening hour of Day 3, Ravindra Jadeja was the architect behind New Zealand's downfall, making short work of their tail end.

After restricting the Kiwis to 255, Jaiswal and skipper Rohit Sharma arrived on the field loaded with ammunition. Mitchell Santner turned up the ante after Tim Southee and William O'Rourke lost their attacking edge with the new ball. Santner entered the fray to enforce a breakthrough as Jaiswal started to open his arms. Rohit tried to have a go against Santner but failed in his exploits.

He took a step forward while trying to negate Santner's delivery but ended up edging the ball straight to Will Young. As silence started to overtake a jubilant crowd in Pune, Gill arrived at the crease to inject a new life into India's dying chase. The 'Gamball' took over New Zealand's cut-throat bowling attack, with Gill and Jaiswal having no mercy to spare en route to scripting history.

In the past 26 instances, India have only once managed to chase down a 300-plus total. The victory dates back to 2008 when India faced England in Chennai. Out of the 26 instances, India has lost on 14 occasions. The flurry of boundaries eclipsed the hopes of losing the series and served as a reminder of what India is capable of pulling off, even in the direst of situations. Jaiswal's inside-out, movement of feet and traditional drives were a sight to behold, while Gill, with his sweeps, outmanoeuvred New Zealand's spin threat.

Brief Score: New Zealand 259 & 255 (Tom Latham 86, Glenn Phillips 48*; Washington Sunda 4-56) vs India 156 & 178/7 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 77, Shubman Gill 23; Mitchell Santner 5-72). (ANI)