India made a fabulous start to the final day of the rain-interrupted opening Test against New Zealand with Jasprit Bumrah removing captain Tom Latham in the last ball of the first over of Day 5, amid an array of 13 dot balls which left the visiting side on their toes as they chase 107 under the gloomy Bengaluru sky in search of their maiden victory on Indian soil after 36 years.
Bumrah dished out a length ball on off-stump, which came back in sharply. Latham looked to fend it for the line, but it beat the inside edge and struck plumb on the front foot in line with the middle stump. On-field umpire Michael Gough did not hesitate and signalled it out after India broke into a loud appeal, leaving the New Zealand batter to walk back to the pavilion having scored a six-ball duck.
Mohammed Siraj maintained the pressure on the New Zealand batters, as he followed Bumrah’s over with another maiden for India, leaving New Zealand clueless at the crease. Amid the stunning show from the Indian pacers, Virat Kohli and Dhruv Jurel engaged in mind games with the two New Zealand batters in the middle – Will Young and Devon Conway – as the two Indians walked to the middle of the pitch during the over break, and pointed towards a big crack, perhaps to put it into the minds of the Kiwi batters.
What happened on Day 4?
On Day 4, India, who were going great guns in their second innings on the back of a 178-run stand between ceturion Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant, and were 407-3 at one point, lost seven wickets in less than 60 runs after New Zealand took the second new ball in the session after Tea.
Sarfaraz continued his good form and notched up 150. Pant also made a valuable contribution of 99. KL Rahul failed to be among the runs. Ravindra Jadeja was the first to fall, dismissed by William O’ Rourke for 5. India managed to reach 450 in 94.5 overs but the wickets kept tumbling. When Ravichandran Ashwin was dismissed, India had scored 458 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah followed soon after, dismissed for a duck by Matt Henry, reducing India to 462/9. Mohammed Siraj also fell for a duck just two balls later, with Henry claiming his third wicket. Kuldeep Yadav remained unbeaten on 6, struggling to score as the ball was stopping on the wet outfield.
Both William O’Rourke and Matt Henry ended with three wickets each, while Tim Southee picked up one. Ajaz Patel and Glenn Phillips also made contributions, taking two and one wicket, respectively.
