INDORE: New Zealand will look at the scoreline and wonder if they were as bad as it looks. When a team is whitewashed 0-3, it is easy to think they were outplayed in all departments. Though the truth is somewhere close to that, it is also far from it. India didn’t outplay them entirely. What they did was they won important sessions and the mini battles that mattered a lot in the end.
Bowlers kept New Zealand in the first two Tests, but in Indore after having India at 100/3, they allowed them to their first 500-plus home total in seven Tests. Pacers Neil Wagner, Trent Boult and Matt Henry bowled their heart out in taxing conditions and never gave away easy runs. Spinners Mitchell Santner, Jeetan Patel, Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi might not be as threatening as the Indians, but they came out with a plan and didn’t look out of sorts. Though none of them got more than 10 wickets, they tested batsmen with discipline.
“It’s very disappointing. Going into the match we wanted to put together a more complete performance. Boys tried really hard in the field on a wicket not offering much initially. It’s a shame. We expected more. Disappointed not to make adjustments quicker,” skipper Kane Williamson added.
Though their bowlers did a commendable job, it was batting which let them down. Yes, they were up against Ravichandran Ashwin, but New Zealand did invite trouble, particularly the manner they went after the spinners. Except for opener Tom Latham who posted three fifties, none of the top-order batsmen made more than one. That Luke Ronchi’s 200 in six innings was the highest aggregate for them meant their bowlers had to bail them out and against an in-form batting line-up.
For New Zealand to match India, Williamson and Ross Taylor had to fire with the bat. That never happened as they were caught like rabbits in the headlight. With these two failing, the task was too much for the rest who hardly had any experience of playing in Indian conditions. Against spinners they were either way too watchful or tried to break the shackles by going after them. Never could they balance the two.
Scoreboard:
India (1st innings) 557/5 decl. ■ New Zealand (1st innings) 299.
India (2nd innings, overnight 18/0) Vijay (run out) 19, Gambhir c Guptill b Patel 50, Pujara (not out) 101, Kohli lbw b Patel 17, Rahane (not out) 23. Extras (b 4, lb 1, w 1) 6.
Total (3 wickets decl; 49 overs) 216.
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-110, 3-158.
Bowling: Boult 7-0-35-0, Patel 14-0-56-2, Santner 17-1-71-0, Henry 7-1-22-0, Neesham 4-0-27-0.
New Zealand (2nd innings):
Latham lbw Umesh 6, Guptill lbw Jadeja 29, Williamson lbw Ashwin 27, Taylor b Ashwin 32, Ronchi b Ashwin 15, Neesham c Kohli b Jadeja 0, Watling (not out) 23, Santner b Ashwin 14, Patel b Ashwin 0, Henry c Shami b Ashwin 0, Boult c & b Ashwin 4. Extras (b 2, nb 1) 3.
Total (all out; 44.5 overs) 153.
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-42, 3-80, 4-102, 5-103, 6-112, 7-136, 8-138, 9-138.
Bowling: Shami 7-0-34-0, Umesh 8-4-13-1, Ashwin 13.5-2-59-7, Jadeja 16-3-45-2.