Washington Sundar on his test return, ran through the batting line up of New Zealand. The All rounder picked 7 wickets and restricted Kiwis to just 259 runs in first innings. Visitors were looking set for a big score. When everyone expected Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Sundar came out of syllabus.
On a dry wicket, NZ captain Tom Latham opted to bat hoping for spin-fest later as the match progresses. His plans backfired as they failed to capitalize on the best possible batting conditions in this test.
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Sundar was not originally in contentions. Following the Bengaluru disaster, he got the opportunity in Kuldeep Yadav’s place. First 3 wickets were taken by Ashwin. Sundar collected next 7 one after another overs. He finished with a career best figure of 59-7. This was also the first time off-spinners took 10 wickets in an innings for India. At tea break, NZ was 201-5 and within an hour post resumption, a cyclone named Washington Sundar blew New Zealand. His hunt consisted of Rachin Ravindra, Daryll Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, and Ajaz Patel.
Up next, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma will be partnered by Yashasvi Jaiswal. India trails in the series 0-1 to New Zealand and the platform is set for a roaring comeback. Big players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubhman Gill will look to find their rhythm before heading to Australia for Border Gavaskar Trophy.
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(Input from the agencies)
