India in control of third Test as New Zealand flounder

In a battle between survival and hunt, it was India who ended with an upper hand over New Zealand on Day 2 of the third Test at the Wankhede Stadium. At the end of Day 2, New Zealand posted 171/9, leading by 143 runs with Ajaz Patel unbeaten on seven (14). In the third Test, which has been dictated by ball turners, India spinners certainly had their say in the hosts' bid to avoid a series whitewash.

After India folded on 263 and took a slender 28-run first-innings lead, the Rohit Sharma-led side set out to put an early dent in New Zealand's batting unit. In the very first over of the second innings, Akash Deep thought that he had Tom Latham after the umpire raised his finger with an LBW appeal from the hosts echoing in the Wankhede. Latham instantly went for the DRS, and the review confirmed an inside edge, allowing the southpaw to extend his stay on the crease for one more delivery.

On the next ball, Akash nipped the ball back into the left-hander and breached his defence through the big gap between pad and bat to end Latham's stay for 1(4). Devon Conway and Will Young took the fight against India's spinners, counterattacking the threat with a flurry of sweep shots and drives. With the pressure mounting back on the Indian team, Washington Sundar came in to ease the nerves. He lured out a healthy edge from Conway with a hint of extra bounce to end his stay on 22(47).

Wickets kept tumbling in the next over after Rachin Ravindra became Ravichandran Ashwin's first wicket in the third Test. The young southpaw stepped out, went for the slog, and missed the line completely as the ball spun away from his outside edge. Rishabh Pant within a blink of an eye, removed the bails off the stumps to send Rachin (4) cheaply.

Daryl Mitchell showed resilience with Young on the other end as the duo tried to steer New Zealand to a respectable score. With a couple of sixes and fours, Young and Mitchell forged a 50-run partnership to restore calm in the Kiwis camp. India knew a moment of magic was needed to end the dangerous-looking partnership, and it came from Ashwin, not with the ball but with his effort on the field.

Mitchell tried to clear the rope but only bottomed his shot. Ashwin went running backwards to take a stunner, forcing Wankhede to erupt with ecstacy and applaud his moment of brilliance. With a newfound momentum, Jadeja put Tom Blundell out of his miseries by castling him for a score of 4(6).

Glenn Phillips threatened India bowlers after effortlessly smoking the ball into the stands on two successive deliveries of Ashwin. The veteran didn't hide away from Phillips and got his revenge by making the free-scoring Kiwi look clueless.

With a carrom ball, Ashwin left Phillips bamboozled, beat his defence on the spin to allow the ball to clip the off-stump and ended his quick-fire 26 off 14 deliveries. Young looked assured of himself and continued to haunt India after raising his bat for a hard-fought fifty. However, the lack of support from the other end became an issue that he struggled to deal with. Ish Sodhi, who tried to stay calm and look for runs on loose deliveries, went for a drive but holed it straight to Virat Kohli at short extra cover.

Young, who oozed out confidence throughout his time on the crease, finally met his match in Ashwin. With his variations, Ashwin made Young (51) dance to his tunes and eventually forced him to cushion the ball back to him for a comfortable catch, putting India in a dominant position. With fortune favouring the visitors, Ajaz Patel and Matt Henry tried to go on till the stumps.

But Jadeja cleaned up Henry, and Harsha Bhogle's voice from the commentary box summed up the sentiment, "It was a matter of time." This marked the final action on Day 2 with New Zealand walking back with a 143-run lead.

Earlier, the second session started with Jadeja and Gill on the crease for India, hoping to cement a partnership. However, in the 47th over Glenn Phillips dismissed Jadeja for 14 runs from 25 balls. Gill and Jadeja could only make a 23-run stand. Minutes later in the 48th over, Sarfaraz Khan was removed from the crease for a four-ball duck by Ajaz Patel.

After losing two quick wickets in the second session, India failed to build on a partnership. Gill's knock came to an end in the 54th over when Ajaz Patel picked his wicket. The India youngster was unlucky as he failed to get his century just for 10 runs.

Ajaz displayed a stupendous performance as he dismissed Ravichandran Ashwin for six runs from 13 balls in the 58th over. Akash Deep's wicket was the final dismissal for India in their first inning. The India pacer was dismissed after a run-out from Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell.

Ajaz Patel led the New Zealand bowling attack in the first inning. The Kiwi spinner picked up five wickets and gave 103 runs. Matt Henry, Glenn Phillips and Ish Sodhi also picked one wicket each in their respective spells.

Earlier on the second day of the Mumbai Test started with Gill and Rishabh Pant on the crease. The two Indians played attacking cricket even though the hosts already lost four wickets on the first day. The India wicketkeeper-batter smashed three fours in the opening over of the second day against Kiwi spinner Ajaz Patel.

In the 27th over, Gill was lucky as Mark Chapman failed to grab the ball on the long-on. With luck helping the two Indian batters Gill and Pant were saved a couple of times from losing their wicket. The duo of Gill-Pant cemented a partnership of 96 runs and helped India to make a comeback in the game.

In the 30th over, Gill slammed his seventh Test fifty after he sent the ball over the deep cover and took a single to complete his first fifty in the three-match Tests against the Kiwis. A few seconds later in the same over, Pant too completed his fifty in just 36 balls. The partnership came to an end in the 38th over when Ish Sodhi removed Pant from the crease for 60 runs from 59 balls. It was a crucial wicket for the Kiwis as they dismissed the dangerous Pant.

Brief Score: New Zealand 235 & 171/9 (Will Young 51, Glenn Phillips 26; Ravindra Jadeja 5-52, Ravichandran Ashwin 3-63) vs India 263 (Shubman Gill 90, Rishabh Pant 60, Ajaz Patel 5/90). (ANI)