Indian spin duo R. Ashwin and Washington Sundar shared five wickets between them just before Tea. New Zealand were placed at 201/5 from 62 overs as they lost Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell in a space of two overs. The Kiwis scored 109 runs for the loss of 3 wickets from 31 overs.
Rachin Ravindra was batting on 65 with Washington Sundar bowling around the wicket. The ball held its line after being pitched on the middle and off-stump line. Rachin Ravindra was left stunned as he heard the ball smashing onto the top of the off stump as India celebrated.
T. I. M. B. E. R! 🎯
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 24, 2024
Cracker of a ball! 👌 👌
Washington Sundar with a breakthrough 🙌 🙌
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Tom Blundell was the last man to fall before tea as he was bowled for 3 runs from 12 balls. Sundar gave the ball lots of air and invited Blundell for the drive and the ball went past the bat of the Kiwi batter. The ball crashed into the stumps as India went into Tea high on confidence.
Resilient Rachin Ravindra frustrates India
New Zealand came out to bat after lunch with Devon Conway and Ravindra going strong. In the very first over post the interval, Jasprit Bumrah was smashed for 3 fours to get the Kiwis going in style. The pair added 62 runs in 19.2 overs as India started to look clueless with the ball in hand.
Ashwin got the third wicket of the day when he had Conway out for 76. Rishabh Pant hung onto a sharp chance as Conway was back to the hut. The Kiwi opener scored his runs off 141 balls with 11 fours. That’s when Ravindra was joined by Daryl Mitchell as the pair added 59 runs for the 4th wicket.
Shubman Gill and Sarfaraz Khan failed to hold onto two close chances off Rachin Ravindra. The 24-year-old got to his fifty with a four off Akash Deep after scoring a century in the 1st innings of the opening Test in Bengaluru. Daryl Mitchell was batting on 16 off 49 balls without any boundaries to his name.