New Zealand’s overnight batters, Glenn Phillips and Tom Blundell, started Day 3 briskly, rotating strike effectively and finding the occasional boundary to add 33 runs in seven overs to their overnight stand of 15.
Ravindra Jadeja provided the breakthrough, deceiving Blundell with an arm ball that clipped his leg stump, which opened the floodgates for the left-arm spinner.
Jadeja, who had yet to claim a wicket in this match, quickly dismissed Mitchell Santner at slip and had Ajaz Patel caught in the deep at cow corner.
Ravichandran Ashwin also joined in, using his flight to deceive Tim Southee, while Phillips kept New Zealand’s innings alive with his counterattacking shots.
However, a smart run-out of William O’Rourke by Washington Sundar and Jadeja ended the Kiwi innings at 255, setting India a steep target of 359.India’s intent was clear from the outset, as Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed Tim Southee for a six on just the second ball, narrowly surviving a close call on the previous delivery.
The young southpaw dominated the opening stand, scoring freely in his 34-run partnership with Rohit Sharma, until the skipper misjudged a slower delivery from Mitchell Santner and was caught at short leg in the sixth over.
Undeterred, Jaiswal pushed on alongside Shubman Gill, with the duo scoring 47 off 32 balls before lunch, leaving India well-placed at 81/1.
The break did nothing to slow Jaiswal’s momentum as he reached a 41-ball half-century. But then Mitchell Santner stepped up, squaring up Gill for an easy slip catch to break the 62-run stand.
Just six overs later, Santner claimed his maiden first-class 10-wicket haul by sneaking a delivery through Jaiswal’s defense, and shortly after, a sharp fielding effort from Santner ran out Rishabh Pant for a duck, leaving India in trouble at 127/4.
From there, Santner trapped Virat Kohli LBW, his delivery just clipping leg stump, and slipped one under Sarfaraz Khan’s bat. Glenn Phillips contributed, claiming Washington Sundar with a stunning catch from Will Young, as India limped to Tea at 178/7.
Virat Kohli angry with umpire, breaks water cooler with bat. pic.twitter.com/RZrkvmYCko
— Ctrl C Ctrl Memes (@Ctrlmemes_) October 26, 2024
After Tea, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin staged a last-ditch 39-run stand, but Santner struck again, closing out India’s innings with a few entertaining tail-end swings. Ultimately, the hosts succumbed to a 113-run defeat, falling short of the daunting target.