New Zealand need 107 to win after Sarfaraz, Pant heroics
Bengaluru, India, AFP: New Zealand hit back after smashing knocks from India’s Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant on a rain-curtailed day four of the first Test on Saturday, with the tourists needing 107 for victory.
Fast bowlers Matt Henry and William O’Rourke took three wickets each to bowl out India for 462 in the final session in Bengaluru. New Zealand skipper Tom Latham and Devon Conway came out to bat but only four balls were bowled and no runs were scored before bad light forced the players off, a heavy downpour began and stumps were called.
Rain also interrupted play towards the end of the first session, with around two hours lost on an action-packed day.
Sarfaraz, who struck 150, and the left-handed Pant, who hit 99, put on 177 runs for the fourth wicket to overhaul India’s big deficit of 356 before the second new ball did the trick for the Black Caps. Sarfaraz, a middle-order batter who hit his first ton in four Test appearances, fell soon after reaching 150 when he was caught at cover off Tim Southee.
O’Rourke denied Pant his century with a delivery from around the wicket that took the edge of the bat and rattled the stumps and then got KL Rahul out for 12 on the stroke of tea. Pant came in to bat after resting on day three with a knee injury.
It was the same knee he hurt in a serious car crash in December 2022 that forced him out of action for more than a year. Wickets kept tumbling as O’Rourke sent back Ravindra Jadeja and Henry wrapped up the innings with two in one over.
Before lunch, Sarfaraz punched a boundary off the back foot through cover off Southee to raise his ton, earning a hug from Pant and a standing ovation from fans and teammates. India were bowled out for 46 in the first innings, their lowest total at home.
New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra then put the tourists ahead with 134, steering them to 402 all out. The opening day’s play was washed out due to rain.
| Scoreboard | |
| India 1st innings Yashasvi Jaiswal c Patel b O’Rourke 13 Rohit Sharma b Southee 02 Virat Kohli c Phillips b O’Rourke 00 Sarfaraz Khan c Conway b Henry 00 Rishabh Pant c Patham b Henry 20 KL Rahul c Blundell b O’Rourke 00 Ravindra Jadeja c Patel b Henry 00 Ravichandran Ashwin c Phillips b Henry 00 Kuldeep Yadav c Bracewell b Henry 02 Jasprit Bumrah c Henry b O’Rourke 01 Mohammed Siraj not out 04 Extras (lb1, nb1, w2) 04 Total (all out; 31.2 overs) 46 Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Sharma, 6.3ov), 2-9 (Kohli, 8.6ov), 3-10 (Khan, 9.4ov), 4-31 (Jaiswal, 20.5ov), 5-33 (Rahul, 22.4ov), 6-34 (Jadeja, 23.5ov), 7-34 (Ashwin, 23.6ov), 8-39 (Pant, 25.3ov), 9-40 (Bumrah, 26.2ov), 10-46 (Yadav, 31.2ov) Bowling: Tim Southee 6-4-8-1, Matt Henry 13.2-3-15-5, William O’Rourke 12-6-22-4 New Zealand 1st innings Tom Latham lbw b Yadav 15 Devon Conway b Ashwin 91 Will Young c Yadav b Jadeja 33 Rachin Ravindra c Jurel b Yadav 134 Daryl Mitchell c Jaiswal b Siraj 18 Tom Blundell c Rahul b Bumrah 05 Glenn Phillips b Jadeja 14 Matt Henry b Jadeja 08 Tim Southee c Jadeja b Siraj 65 Ajaz Patel lbw b Yadav 04 William O’Rourke not out 00 Extras (b8, lb4, nb1, w2) 15 Total (all out; 91.3 overs) 402 Fall of wickets: 1-67 (Latham, 17.1ov), 2-142 (Young, 36.3ov), 3-154 (Conway, 39.1ov), 4-193 (Mitchell, 54.6ov), 5-204 (Blundell, 57.4ov), 6-223 (Phillips, 62.3ov), 7-233 (Henry, 64.5ov), 8-370 (Southee, 86.4ov), 9-384 (Patel, 89.5ov), 10-402 (Ravindra, 91.3ov) Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 19-7-41-1, Mohammed Siraj 18-2-84-2, Ravichandran Ashwin 16-1-94-1, Kuldeep Yadav 18.3-1-99-3, Ravindra Jadeja 20-1-72-3 India 2nd innings Yashasvi Jaiswal st Blundell b Patel 35 Rohit Sharma b Patel 52 Virat Kohli c Blundell b Phillips 70 Sarfaraz Khan c Patel b Southee 150 Rishabh Pant b O’Rourke 99 KL Rahul c Blundell b O’Rourke 12 Ravindra Jadeja c Young b O’Rourke 05 Ravichandran Ashwin lbw b Henry 15 Kuldeep Yadav not out 06 Jasprit Bumrah c Blundell b Henry 00 Mohammed Siraj c Southee b Henry 00 Extras (b7, lb9, nb1, w1) 18 Total (all out; 99.3 overs) 462 Fall of wickets: 1-72 (Jaiswal, 17.1ov), 2-95 (Sharma, 21.5ov), 3-231 (Kohli, 48.6ov), 4-408 (Khan, 84.1ov), 5-433 (Pant, 88.1ov), 6-438 (Rahul, 90.2ov), 7-441 (Jadeja, 92.3ov), 8-458 (Ashwin, 97.3ov), 9-462 (Bumrah, 99.1ov), 10-462 (Siraj, 99.3ov) Bowling: Tim Southee 15-2-53-1, Matt Henry 24.3-4-102-3, William O’Rourke 21-4-92-3, Ajaz Patel 18-3-100-2, Glenn Phillips 15-2-69-1, Rachin Ravindra 6-0-30-0 New Zealand 2nd innings Tom Latham not out 00 Devon Conway not out 00 Extras 00 Total (no wicket; 0.4 overs) 00 To bat: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William O’Rourke Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 0.4-0-0-0 |