Axar Patel's five-wicket haul was instrumental in bowling the Kiwis out for 296 runs as India took a 63-run lead at the end of Day 3.
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Axar Patel led the charge for India as they bowled out New Zealand for 296 runs on Day 3 of the first of two Tests to be played between the two teams. Axar bagged his fifth five-wicket haul in Test cricket as he completely dismantled a Kiwi batting order that had started the innings with a solid opening stand. The spinner is now the joint second-fastest bowler to pick up 5 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket. Openers Tom Latham and Will Young both narrowly missed out on their respective centuries and there was no big score from anyone after them. Ravichandran Ashwin also did a fine job with the ball as he bagged a couple of wickets. India came out for their second innings with a lead of 49 runs. They ended the day with 14-1 on the board and a lead of 63 runs.
At the beginning of the day, it seemed like the Kiwi pair of Latham and Young would continue their fantastic batting performance and frustrate the Indian bowlers. However, that was not the case. Latham played exceptionally well but he was dismissed for 95 runs off 282 deliveries, just five runs short of what would have been a magnificent ton. Young also played brilliantly before being dismissed on 89 off 214 balls.
There would have been a lot of expectations from the New Zealand middle order but they failed to deliver on the day. Skipper Kane Williamson could only record 18 runs on the day and veteran batter Ross Taylor was dismissed for just 11. Kyle Jamieson was the only one apart from the openers who got into the twenties. He scored 23 runs off 75 deliveries.
The star of the day was undoubtedly Axar Patel. The all-rounder picked up his fifth five-wicket haul in his Test cricket career as he ended with figures of 5-62. Axar bagged the crucial wickets of Tom Latham and Ross Taylor at the top of the Kiwi batting order and did serious damage later on as well.
Ravichandran Ashwin was back to his best as well as he picked up three important wickets on the day. The veteran off-spinner finished with figures of 3-82. Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja picked one wicket each for Ajinkya Rahane’s men on the day as well.
With a lead of 49 runs, India seemed quite pleased with the job they had done after being battered by Latham and Young on Day 2. It was a brilliant comeback and the Indian spinners did an absolutely fantastic job.
Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal walked out for the second innings looking to extend their lead as much as possible. However, the Kiwis had the perfect start to the innings. Gill was dismissed thanks to a brilliant delivery by Jamieson and India had lost a crucial early wicket. The young opener only scored one run off three balls. Mayank was then joined by veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle. Pujara remained unbeaten on nine off 14 deliveries and Mayank was not out on four off 13 deliveries when stumps were called by the umpires.
