Indian wicketkeeper and batter Rishabh Pant was out for 99 during the 4th day of the first Test in Bengaluru. New Zealand seamer William O Rourke came round the wicket and saw Pant inside edge the ball back into his stumps much to the shock of everyone in the ground.
This was the 7th time that Pant was getting out in the nineties in the longest form of the game. If Pant had scored the single run needed, he would have scored his seventh Test ton. It would have helped the 27-year-old become the most successful wicketkeeper and batter for India surpassing MS Dhoni’s 6 Test tons.
At Tea time New Zealand had performed a mini comeback to restrict India to 438/6 in the 91st over. The home team leads by 82 runs with Ravindra Jadeja set to resume batting along with Ravichandran Ashwin. Rohit Sharma will hope the veteran pair can add some important runs to take India to a decent total to bowl to.
Kiwi seamers dent India just before the Tea interval
Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant added 177 runs for the 4th wicket and dominated proceedings on the 4th day. At one stage it looked like the two stars would guide India well past the 100-run mark to put pressure on the Kiwis. The pressure exerted by the two batters seemed to pay as the Kiwis made mistakes in the field.
Tom Blundell missed an easy run out at the start of the day with Pant not yet past his 20. Sarfaraz on the other hand reached his maiden Test ton with a four off Southee and celebrated wildly. Even the stoppage in play didn’t faze the two youngsters who were playing confident cricket.
New Zealand’s decision to take the 2nd new ball worked in their favour as the seam bowlers began to find some movement. Sarfaraz in particular seemed to lose his rhythm as he was starting to get impatient. The 27-year-old was out to Southee for 150 when he was caught by Ajaz Patel. Post the wicket of Pant, the Kiwis also dismissed KL Rahul for 12 to give India a massive jolt at tea time.
Here’s how the fans reacted
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