MUMBAI: It was the sort of moment which makes us fall in love with the sport of bat and ball all over again. Ravichandran Ashwin, having endured a lean run and ceded the spotlight to younger off-spin colleague Washington Sundar in Pune, won hearts as he pulled off the best catch of his life here on Saturday.
Running sideways for almost 19 metres from mid-on after Daryl Mitchell tonked a spinning delivery from Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin, all of 38, launched himself into a dive to take a blinder. The catch ended a 50-run fourth partnership in 83 balls between Mitchell and Will Young (51; 100b, 2×4, 1×6) and turned things back India’s way. The way he let off a scream and threw the ball in the air, and the way his teammates hugged him after that brilliant catch, was testament to what Ashwin means to this side.
Charged up after that piece of magic, Ashwin unleashed a string in his bow. Two deadly carrom balls accounted for the dangerous-looking Glenn Phillips and Young, with both batters perhaps expecting the ball to turn. In the process, Ashwin became the most successful bowler at the Wankhede with 41 wickets, breaking leg-spin great Anil Kumble’s record of 38. He had earlier foxed the dangerous Rachin Ravindra too.
On an eventful Day 2 which saw 15 wickets fall on a pitch where the ball was turning square, India’s spin twins roared back into form. Ashwin (3/63 in 16 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (4/52 in 12.3 overs) combined beautifully to run through New Zealand, who took stumps at 171/9 in their second innings for a lead of 143 runs.
Earlier, impressive seamer Akash Deep gave India he perfect start as he bowled Kiwi skipper Tom Latham though the gate with one that jagged back in after pitching.
Jadeja (match figures of 9/119) too has looked unplayable on this wicket and has been India’s star bowler. India will now fancy their chances of a consolation win here. However, it must be said that even chasing 150 on this minefield of a pitch, which has seen 29 wickets go down in just two days, will be tricky. Not only is the ball hissing and spitting like a cobra on the typical red soil pitch at the Wankhede, it’s also keeping low at times, making batting a hazardous job.
The credit for the hosts’ fabulous fightback — after they had been reduced to 86/4 overnight due to some mindless cricket — goes to young batting guns Shubman Gill (90; 146b, 7×4, 1×6) and Rishabh Pant (60; 59b, 8×4, 2×6). The duo changed the complexion of the match with their 96-run fifth-wicket partnership off just 114 balls. Pant smashed 60 of those runs, launching into a typically blistering counter-attack.
Pant signalled his intentions right from the start, playing some lovely off-drives down the ground for four off the first two balls he faced from Kiwi left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel.
The duo plundered 77 runs in the first hour (14 overs) as Pant raced to a 36-ball 50, the fastest by an Indian batsman against New Zealand in Tests, while unfurling his full array of strokes — the lap sweep, reverse sweep, while also dancing down the track twice to deposit Patel into the stands.
Sensing that the Pant show was on, Gill, who has lately had to answer a few questions about his ability to play quality spin on turning tracks, chose to sensibly play second fiddle, showcasing his class with an inside out four over cover off Patel. To make things worse for themselves, the Kiwis, unnerved by Pant’s assault, dropped sitters that both the batters offered at long on.
While Gill’s catch was grassed by substitute fielder Mark Chapman when the batter was on 45, Pant was let off by Matt Henry on 53, with offspinner Phillips being the unlucky bowler on both occasions.
Gill’s missed opportunity, in particular, might cost New Zealand heavily.
