On the first day of the second Test of IND vs NZ, Washington Sundar bowled brilliantly and took seven wickets. Due to his brilliant performance, the Indian team was able to restrict New Zealand to a score of 259. In response to this score of New Zealand, India also lost the wicket of its captain Rohit Sharma early, and by the end of the day’s play, they were playing at 16 runs at the loss of one wicket.
A total of 11 wickets fell on the first day of the Pune IND vs NZ Test, out of which 10 wickets were taken by off-spinners and 1 wicket by a left-arm spinner. Another fact is that all these wickets fell from one end. This is the first time in India’s Test history that all 10 wickets were taken by off-spinners.
Spinner’s significance in the 2nd test of IND vs NZ
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It was clear after the Bengaluru Test that the Pune pitch would be very helpful for spinners. New Zealand captain Tom Latham decided to bat first after winning the toss, as it was clear that batting in the fourth innings here was not going to be easy. After losing the toss, the worry was clearly visible on Rohit’s face, as he knew that the toss was very important here.
Batting first, New Zealand did not have a great start and captain Latham fell prey to R Ashwin in the eighth over. After this, there was a partnership of 54 runs between Will Young and Devon Conway and they tried to play in a very positive way. By lunch, the New Zealand team had lost only two wickets and it seemed that Rachin Ravindra was going to trouble the Indian bowlers once again. Also, Devon Conway was also supporting him well.
Both the batsmen carried their innings forward very well and also scored half-centuries. Conway fell prey to Ashwin on a personal score of 76 and in this way, the first three wickets of the day were in Ashwin’s name.
Washington Sundar’s Off-spin turns the game in favor of India
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However, after this, the ball was handed over to Washington from the end from where Ashwin was bowling and he took full advantage of it. Some balls were getting extra bounce from this end. Also, some balls were turning a lot. By the time tea time came, the pitch had changed its color and the batsmen were facing a lot of difficulty.
Just two overs before tea, Washington had told that it was not going to be easy to face him now. In the 60th over, he opened his account of wickets by bowling out the first match’s centurion Rachin, and then in the 62nd over, by bowling out Tom Blundell, he gave another blow to New Zealand.
After the wickets of Rachin and Conway fell, no New Zealand batsman could stay at the crease for long.
Washington’s brilliant bowling continued even after tea. After tea, he bowled a total of 8.1 overs, in which he took five wickets for 25 runs. This brilliant performance by Washington, who was returning to the Indian Test team after March 2021, restricted New Zealand to a score of 259.
However, looking at the nature of the pitch, it was clear that it would not be easy for the Indian batsmen to play on this pitch. After New Zealand’s innings, India faced a total of 11 overs in which they scored 16 runs and lost one wicket in the form of Rohit. Rohit became the victim of Tim Southee, which was the first wicket in this IND vs NZ Test by any fast bowler.
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