Bengaluru: The last time New Zealand defeated India was by 136 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in 1988 under the captaincy of John Wright. Now after 36 years, Kiwis have defeated India by coming to India. Chasing the target of 107 runs to win on the last day, New Zealand did not hesitate after the initial setbacks. Will Young remained unbeaten on 48 runs and Rachin Ravindra remained unbeaten on 39 runs. Both of them made an unbroken partnership of 75 runs for the third wicket and gave the team a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
India lost due to these four mistakes
The way India made a comeback in the match despite being out for 46 runs in the first innings is praiseworthy. Now he will have to forget this defeat and show his natural game in the second Test starting from October 24 in Pune. Let us look at the big reasons for India’s defeat in this match…
- All out for 46 runs in the first innings
The Indian team, after winning the toss and batting first, was all out for just 46 runs, which is its lowest score in an innings of any Test match played on Indian soil. Five batsmen could not even open their account. This embarrassing score played the biggest role in India’s downfall.
- Failure to break the partnership between Rachin Ravindra and Saudi
After bowling out India for just 46 runs, New Zealand made a huge score of 402 runs in their first innings. At one point, New Zealand had lost seven wickets for 233 runs, but then a record century partnership was made for the eighth wicket between Rachin Ravindra (134) and Devon Conway (65). If the Indian bowlers had dismissed this pair early, New Zealand would not have been able to take the lead of 356 runs.
- Losing the last seven wickets for just 56 runs in the second innings.
After trailing by 356 runs, it seemed that India would lose the match by an innings, but Sarfaraz Khan made his career best score of 150, who also got good support from Rishabh Pant (99). By the time both were at the crease, India’s scorecard was increasing rapidly, but both the wickets fell nearby, after which India lost its next seven wickets within 50-55 runs. If the bats of KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin had played, they might have been able to give New Zealand a higher target than us.
- Not being able to put necessary pressure on New Zealand
On the last day, due to wet outfield, the match started one hour late at 10.15. Handling the new ball, Bumrah took two wickets for 29 runs. Tom Latham was out in the first over without opening the account. The umpire gave him LBW and he took a review. His dismissal was also confirmed in DRS. India must have felt the lack of a third fast bowler as Bumrah and Siraj were getting help from the wicket. India had fielded Kuldeep Yadav as the third spinner, who gave 26 runs in three overs. New Zealand’s score at that time was 35 runs for two wickets, but Young and Rachin played cautiously after that.