Ian Bishop lauds NZ team for their "synergy, focus, self-belief" following series win vs India

Former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop lauded New Zealand for beating India in a Test series in their own backyard, saying that the country's teams keep reminding everyone of what "synergy, focus and self-belief" can do. It was a historic Saturday for Kiwis as the invincibility of Team India finally met its end after 12 years and 18 Test series. Spinner Mitchell Santner led the charge with 13 wickets in the match, making the world-class Indian batting line-up dance to his tunes and fumble a 359-run chase big time.

Taking to X, Bishop wrote, "Often enough, New Zealand's cricket teams keep reminding us of what synergy, focus and self belief can do. Congratulations on an historic series win." Notably, Kiwis have been a tough opponent for India to overcome across all formats. Though India secured two wins over NZ in the ICC Cricket World Cup at home last year, including one in the semifinals, they have still lost some big matches to NZ over the years, including the semifinals of the 2019 ICC 50-over World Cup, a must-win group stage match in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 that eliminated Men in Blue from the tournament, the ICC World Test Championship final in the UK in the same year and now this must win second Test at Pune, winning which would have kept India's home domination alive and their ICC WTC 2025 final chances stronger. NZ have consistently finished among semifinalists/finalists in major ICC events in the last 10 years or so.

It has been a great past few days for NZ cricket fans as the women's team lifted their first-ever ICC Women's T20 World Cup title by beating South Africa by 32 runs last week. Coming to the match, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. Half-centuries from Devon Conway (76 in 141 balls, with 11 fours) and Rachin Ravindra (65 in 105 balls, with five fours and a six) placed Kiwis in a strong position at 197/3, with Ravichandran Ashwin (3/41) being the only one to have made some dents into the batting. Floodgates opened for wickets after Conway's dismissal, with comeback man Washington Sundar (7/59) getting the remaining wickets to get NZ to 259 all out.

India was tasked to overcome this rather modest total and gain a sizeable lead. After skipper Rohit Sharma's dismissal for a duck, youngsters Shubman Gill (30 in 72 balls, with two fours and a six) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (30 in 60 balls, with four boundaries) tried forming a partnership. However, their effort was cut short at 49 runs. Just like the first innings, the dismissal of a set Gill paved way for Mitchell Santner to run through the Indian line up. Santner (7/53) and Glenn Phillips (2/26) made Indian batters dance to their tunes on their own pitches, skittling them out for just 156 runs. Ravindra Jadeja top-scored with 38 in 46 balls, with three fours and two sixes.

Kiwis got themselves in a commanding position in their second innings. Led by skipper Tom Latham's 86 in 133 balls, with 10 fours and some important contributions from Phillips (48 in 82 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and Tom Blundell (41 in 83 balls, with three fours), Kiwis increased their 103-run first inning lead to a lead of 358 runs, being skittled out for 255 after some fine bowling on first session of day three by spinners.

Sundar (4/56) once again lead the bowling from the front, with Jadeja (3/72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/97) wiping the lower-middle order and tail. In the chase of 359, India got a fine start from opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who stitched a valuable 62-run stand with Shubman Gill (23 in 31 balls, with four boundaries).

However, after Jaiswal's dismissal for 77 in 65 balls, with nine fours and three sixes, India never recovered, falling a prey to Kiwi spinners and bundled out for 245, losing the test by 113 runs. With this India also registered its first home series loss in 12 years. Santner (6/104) was once again the star, taking 13 wickets in the match, with Phillips (two wickets) and Ajaz (one wicket) also offering some support to end the Test two days early. Santner was the 'Player of the Match' for his brilliant bowling spell and NZ leads the three-match series 2-0. (ANI)