All-rounder Mitchell Santner and batter Rachin Ravindra helped New Zealand claim their first Test series victory on Indian soil, as they beat India by 113 runs in the second test Saturday in Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. New Zealand had won the first test in Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium by eight wickets.
Mitchell Santner picked 13 wickets in the second Test match against India. In the first innings, Santher picked up crucial seven wickets and clinched six in the second innings. It was a second five-plus wicket haul for Santner in tests that came in consecutive innings at Pune.
Apart from Santner, Ajaz Patel took 2-43, while Glenn Phillips picked 1-60.
Chasing 359 runs for an unlikely win, India were bundled up for 245 runs in 60.2 overs. For India, the top scorer was Yashasvi Jaiswal who scored 77 runs off 65 balls. While Ravindra Jadeja scored important 42 runs, but other batters kept losing their wickets from the opposite side. Since 2012, this is India first home series loss. It was beaten by England then.
Santner was named player of the match for picking up 13 wickets. At the post-match presentation ceremony, he said, “Winning a series over here is very tough. I feel a little sore (with bowling unchanged from one end), but you have to keep going. Every time I got a wicket, it felt better. I just tried to land the ball in the same spot with little changes in pace.”
What stats say:
Looking at stats, New Zealand has toured India since 1955 and had only managed to win two tests in India before this series — in 1969 and 1988.
Following this series win, Tom Latham’s squad joins a select club. India had previously lost only three test series on home soil since 2000 — to South Africa (2000), Australia (2004-05) and England 12 years ago.
The third Test between India and New Zealand will be played from 1 November at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
