India, New Zealand Produce First Drawn Test On Indian Soil In 4 Years
Mumbai: First Test between India and New Zealand in Kanpur ended in a draw on Monday. It’s the first drawn Test on Indian soil in four years.
India and Sri Lanka had produced the last drawn Test on Indian soil in December 2017.
Team India managed to take eight wickets on the fifth day of the first Test, but some delays in the game and the harsh performance of the visiting team’s batsmen brought the victory back from the jaws of the hosts. Ravindra Jadeja took four wickets in the second innings while veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets.
Resuming the final session at 125/4, the Indian bowlers deepened as Axar Patel declared Henry Nicholls lbw. Then after five overs, Ravindra Jadeja got the crucial wicket of Kane Williamson. The New Zealand captain decided to go back and the ball skidded and trapped him.
He was dismissed for 24 runs for 112. In the 79th over, Ashwin scored Tom Blundell on his leg. At the end of the match, India took the second new ball in the 84th over.
With the light fading and time running out for the hosts, Ravindra Jadeja struck in quick succession to send Kylie Jamieson and Tim Southee back into the dugout.
With one wicket short, the Indian bowlers threw everything at the batsmen Rachin Ravindra and Ejaz Patel. But Rachin, who played 91 deliveries in the second innings, ensured that his side went through a draw.
Earlier, Team India managed to take three wickets in the second session on the fifth day of the ongoing first Test against New Zealand at Green Park, Kanpur here on Monday. At the tea break, New Zealand’s score read 125/4.
Will Somerville (36) was sent back to the pavilion by Umesh Yadav in the 36th over of the innings and this brought skipper Kane Williamson to the middle. Latham however marched on and he brought up his half-century in the 51st over of the innings. Latham (52) was bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin in the 55th over and as a result, the off-spinner went past Harbhajan Singh’s tally of 417 Test wickets.
Ross Taylor (2) also failed to score big, and New Zealand was quickly reduced to 125/4. Brief Scores: India 345 and 234/7d; New Zealand 296 and 165/9 (Tom Latham 52, Will Somerville 36, Ravindra Jadeja 4-40).
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