India vs New Zealand | Rohit Sharma's fifty puts India in command of second Test

10/02/2016

After cornering the Kiwis on the 2nd day by removing 7 wickets, India faced late resistance from Jeetan Patel before restricting the visitors to 216 runs in the 1st innings. Despite Matt Henry troubling India earlier in their 2nd innings, Rohit Sharma's superb 82 helped India end the day at 227/8.

Brief Scores: India 316 and 227 for 8 (Rohit 82, Kohli 45, Henry 3-44) lead New Zealand 204 all out (Patel 47, Bhuvneshwar 5-48) by 339 runs

Facing a deficit of 188 runs in their first innings, New Zealand's Jeetan Patel and BJ Watling walked on to the pitch with the scorecard at 128/7 in conditions that were looking tough for the batters. But both the batsmen put up a good partnership to make sure that New Zealand crossed the 200-run mark.

Patel puts up a fight

Virat Kohli started the third day with his pacers on a pitch that has been offering bounce for the past two day, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the ball to reverse by the second over of the day itself. But spinner Jeetan Patel and BJ Watling showed some steely resistance to row the boat to safety. In the process, the pair added another 54 valuable runs to their previous day's partnership.

Kohli then turned to Ravinchandran Ashwin and the Tamil Nadu off-spinner removed Patel with his first delivery of the morning. A tossed up ball made Patel play towards the cow corner but it was hit straight towards Mohammed Shami. Shami then removed both BJ Watling and Neil Wagner in two consecutive balls to bring an end to New Zealand's first innings at 204.

Kiwi pacers strike early but Kohli does well

With a lead of 112 runs, which was very good given the pitch conditions, the Indian batting lineup received early blows just after the lunch break as Matt Henry removed Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara cheaply. With the score reading 24 for 2, skipper Kohli walked in looking for some much needed runs. Kohli's attacking approach paid off in boundaries even as wickets fell at the other end. Trent Boult removed Shikhar Dhawan leg before with a seaming delivery as Ajinkya Rahane also departed for an attempted pull shot off Matt Henry's bouncer.

Kohli then put up a 48-run partnership with Rohit Sharma but an angled delivery from Boult hit an rough patch on the turf and stayed very low to hit Kohli on the pads. Umpire Richard Kettleborough raised his finger immediately bringing Kohli's redeemable 45-run knock to an end. Mitch Santner then took advantage of the awkward bounce off the pitch as another ball which kept low trapped Ravichandran Ashwin leg before.

Rohit-Saha propel India to a strong position

Following Kohli's dismissal, Rohit Sharma, for whom Kolkata has been a favourite venue, played a patient innings with Wriddhiman Saha playing the supporting role. The Mumbai batsman faced the swing and awkward bounce from the Kiwi pacers with confidence but also made sure that the loose deliveries would reach the fence.

Saha, on the other hand, kept rotating the strike, which prevented the bowlers from targeting just one batsman. The pair put up a century partnership as India's lead swelled past 300 runs. After looking set to reach his first hundred in almost three years, Rohit Sharma got an edge off Mitch Santner's flat delivery departing on a well-made 82. Ravindra Jadeja went for a slog off Santner after scoring a six off his first ball, only to be caught at square leg by Jimmy Neesham. With India's lead reaching 339 runs, the home side will now look to put some quick runs on the board in the morning session tomorrow to set New Zealand a huge target to chase.