India put on a terrific all-round show to wrest the initiative but New Zealand hit back with four wickets to even the advantage on day one of the third Test at the Wankhede Stadium.
Led by the heroics of Ravindra Jadeja, who picked 5/65, India bowled out New Zealand for 235 in 65.4 overs but New Zealand hit right back with four wickets, including a needless run out of Virat Kohli at the fag end of the day to leave themselves with a lot of work to do at 86/4 in 19 overs at stumps on day one.
India had lost skipper Rohit for 18 off Matt Henry after which Yashasvi Jaiswal and nightwatchman Mohammad Siraj were snapped up by Ajaz Patel before Kohli was run out off a direct hit by Henry.
Meanwhile, Rohit was dropped on 15 at the deep after he struck three fours as the Indian captain got a life. But he was a goner in the seventh over when Henry had him at slip caught by Tom Latham off a back of a length delivery.
Earlier, in the NZ innings, Akash Deep struck in the fourth over of the day when he had Devon Conway trapped leg before to a beauty of a delivery as New Zealand slipped to 15/1.
Both the Indian new ball bowlers Mohammad Siraj and Akash Deep were penetrative in their opening spells with a tight, stump-to-stump line. NZ skipper Tom Latham was fluent in the first 20 balls that he faced scoring 18 runs with two fours at a strike rate of 90.
Both teams were trying to get a sense of how the wicket was playing with the freshness of the morning offering assistance to the Indian pacers. It took just eight overs for spin to be introduced as Ravichandran Ashwin came into the attack as New Zealand had something to think about.
Latham was going well until the 16th over and scored 28 runs before Washington Sundar, who was bowling in tandem with Ashwin, bowled an absolute peach of a delivery that clipped Latham’s off stump.
Latham’s 28 runs had come off 44 balls in 78 minutes at a strike rate of 63.63. The knock offered promise but lost its way to Sundar’s brilliance.
Sundar again showing signs of the amazing coming off age series this has been for him. Taking off from where he had left off at the MCA Stadium in Pune to transfer the aura to the cauldron of the Wankhede enthralling fans with his skills.
Four overs later, Sundar knocked off Rachin Ravindra’s off stump to stamp his authority on the Kiwis and reaffirm the dream run he is going through at the moment.
Sundar has been probably India’s biggest positive in the series apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal with his spells causing ripples in the opposition ranks.
He ripped through NZ’s middle order in Pune and seemed to be doing exactly the same at the Wankhede.
Will Young was holding fort for NZ with 38 hard earned runs that comprised three fours and a six and strike rate of 48.71 keeping the likes of Sundar, Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja at bay with his solid defensive technique.
Taking lunch with three down for 92, NZ would feel they lost a wicket more than they would have liked but India would be fairly pleased with the proceedings of the first session.
Post-lunch, Young struck his fifty in 94 balls and 110 minutes with three fours and two sixes as the visitors reached 109/3 in 29.4 overs.
Young and Mitchell steadied the ship for New Zealand as they struck a 50-plus run partnership and ensured the visitors were back on track.
New Zealand reached 134/3 in 40 overs with Young on 62 and Mitchell on 23 with drinks being taken as both teams got a breather to gather their thoughts.
The Kiwis reached 150 in 42.2 overs in 190 minutes as Mitchell and Young were reverse sweeping the likes of Jadeja and Ashwin for fours to upset their rhythm. It showed glimpses of what the NZ batsmen had done in Pune to take the Indian bowlers to the cleaners.
Ravindra Jadeja turns the tables on New Zealand:
Jadeja came to the party in the 45th over when he had Young caught at slips by skipper Rohit Sharma and then doubled it up three balls later to get Tom Blundell bowled for no score.
New Zealand were in trouble at 159/5 as Glenn Phillips joined Mitchell in the middle. Mitchell brought up his fifty in 90 balls with three fours as he looked to keep the NZ innings going without any hiccups.
The Saurashtra all-rounder snuffed out Phillips for 17 with a ball that opened him up through the gate as NZ hurtled to 187/6 in 53 overs. From 92/3 at lunch, New Zealand would take tea at 192/6 in 55 overs. India were mighty pleased with their performance heading into the break.
Jadeja was on a roll after tea as well as he had Ish Sodhi plumb in front and then off the very next ball bowled Matt Henry to complete his fifer. The visitors were languishing at 210/8 in 61 overs with a real possibility of getting bowled out under 250.
Mitchell was the only batter who was holding one end up for NZ having reached 80 with three fours and as many sixes. Once Sundar scalped Mitchell for 82 with a fine catch at slips by Rohit, New Zealand’s innings was as good as over. Two balls later, Ajaz Patel was leg before to Sundar, who ended up with a creditable 4/81 in what was another terrific effort as NZ were bowled out for 235 in 65.4 overs.
