IND vs NZ | 2nd Test, Day 3: Ashwin puts Blackcaps on brink after punishing batting dominance

India took another emphatic step towards their dominance in the game and series win on the third day of the second Test against New Zealand in Mumbai. They have eliminated the top five batsmen of the Blackcaps batting lineup and are still ahead by a mammoth margin of 400 runs to seek dominance on the fourth day of the Test.

They were already ahead in the game and even a batting collapse would not have brought the Kiwis back in the game. That collapse did not come either as Mayank Agarwal was in no mood to waste his form and Cheteshwar Pujara was eager to score some runs with having no real pressure on his shoulders in terms of the team’s situation.

Frustration continues for Pujara, Kohli

India were way ahead in the game on the third day and lack of runs and game time in the middle would have been one of the reason behind India delaying their declaration or taking a cautious approach in batting.

The two main batsmen in focus were Virat Kohli and Pujara, who have spent more than two years of their life without scoring a hundred and their batting numbers have started to make them look like a pale shadow of themselves.

Pujara, in particular, was looking to bat with intent as he punched on anything loose by Ajaz Patel and Will Somerville. He was down the track quickly and played with the minds of the spinners to take a strong foot forwards towards the elusive big score.

However, as has been the case this year, his error in judgment while playing a flatter delivery off Ajaz Patel got him dismissed in the slip as the slowish delivery gripped and turned ever so slightly to grab the edge of his bat.

His departure was followed by a resounding welcome for Kohli by the spectators present at Wankhede Stadium as they would not be hoping to see him again for a long time, at least in the format. Also, the team were in fantastic condition and there was no pressure for him against any bowlers, except the lone warrior in Ajaz Patel.

Kohli looked promising and showed his intention of playing with the aggressive approach by taking Somerville over the fence at deep midwicket. He was also decisive in his footwork and was rarely found in no man’s land against spinners.

However, just when he too looked set for a big score, an innocuous delivery took the inside edge of his bat and ricocheted to hit the stumps and leaving him with a wry smile which was a clear sign of helplessness from the Indian skipper.

Infinite tricks of Ravichandran Ashwin

India were not banking on the pacers to do the magical job they did in the first innings and they were at the Kiwi openers from the word go with Ashwin from one end with the new ball.

He has had tasted tremendous success against Tom Latham and his variations have always kept the left-hander guessing although he was super in Kanpur. Even there, he was the only bowler who troubled him with his variations in spin and pace.

The off-spinner rolled out a perfect mix of slower off-spinner and faster arm balls to deceive Latham into playing down the wrong line. He did not have to play too many tricks to claim Young, who could not provide a solid defence to a sharply bouncing delivery while he was playing a few attacking shots too cleanly.

Ross Taylor appeared to have come to the crease with the thought that batting while defending a lot of deliveries was not a viable option and hence he tried to throw caution to the wind. The idea was good but the execution was awful as he picked the worst ball to attack. Ashwin was very slow in the air, so much so that Taylor had to wait for an eternity to have the ball in his arc and his inability to delay the shot produced a top edge that Pujara caught with some struggle.

Looking ahead to the fourth day

India have just five wickets to take and win the series 1-0 and there are far too much help in the pitch for them and very few batsmen to lead New Zealand’s resistance on such a helpful pitch.

New Zealand have the duo of Rachin Ravindra and Henry Nicholls to lead their resistance on the fourth day and they would be looking to at least delay the inevitable if not bring about a miraculous escape.