Ind-NZ second test : Bowlers shines on third day
Bangalore: 14 wickets fell on Day 3 of the second Test match between India and New Zealand courtesy Tim Southee (7/64) and Ravichandran Ashwin (5/69) as New Zealand ended the day on 232/9 with an overall lead of 244 runs.
After conceding a slender 12-run lead, Ashwin snared five for 69 to restrict New Zealand to 232 for nine on an action-packed third day which saw as many as 14 wickets fall at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
India will now look to wrap up the innings as quickly as possible and push for a 2-0 series win with two full days still left in the match.
Useful contributions from the middle-order helped the visitors in their endeavour to put up a defendable total as Ashwin didn’t let the Black Caps take a runaway lead.
Ashwin got rid of Kruger van Wyk, James Franklin and Tim Southee in quick succession before Pragyan Ojha dismissed Bracewell to peg back the visitors.
The burly Tamil Nadu offie began post-tea session by claiming Daniel Flynn’s wicket soon after tea for 31 (65 balls 4s-6) caught at first slip by Virender Sehwag while trying to run the ball down to third man.
Pacer Umesh Yadav also gave able support to Ashwin by providing two vital breakthroughs sending back openers Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum in the post-lunch session.
New Zealand in their second innings started of aggressively with McCullum clobbering couple of boundaries before lunch. In the second session Umesh Yadav got his line and length right for a brief period of time which resulted in the wicket of dangerous McCullum and Guptill. Ojha then scalped the all important wicket of Ross Taylor just before the tea break.
Ross Taylor (35), Daniel Flynn (31), James Franklin (41) and Kruger van Wyk (31) all got starts but failed to convert it to something big. The Kiwis’ middle order batted sensibly in the second session but the introduction of R Ashwin in the 19th over changed the complexion of the match.
Ashwin got the wicket of Kane Williamson in his very first over and from there on Indians started chipping away at the NZ batting order.
By the end of Day 3, India were a nose tip ahead in the evenly contested fixture at Bangalore with two more days to go.
