NEW ZEALAND THRASH INDIA BY 10 WICKETS IN WELLINGTON TEST, TAKE 1-0 LEAD
New Zealand record 100th Test win after Southee, Boult run through India’s batting to seal 10-wicket victory
WELLINGTON:India’s batting inadequacies in adverse conditions were laid bare as they crashed to an embarrassing 10-wicket defeat against a ruthless New Zealand side that wrapped up the opening Test in just over three days here on Monday.
Starting the day on 144 for four, India were all out for 191 in 81 overs in their second innings. This was a shade better than their dismal 165 in the first innings, which eventually proved to be decisive. Trent Boult (4/39 in 22 overs) and Tim Southee (5/61 in 21 overs), one of the finest newball pairs in world cricket, showed that when it boils down to playing incisive seam and swing bowling, this batting line-up is still a work in progress.
The target of nine runs was knocked off by New Zealand without ado for their 100th Test win. “I think we let ourselves down massively with the bat in the first innings,” India skipper Virat Kohli said after the match.
“You could say the toss played a big role in the Test match but that’s an uncontrollable, so you can’t focus on that and take that as a massive factor. Having said that, the first innings performance pushed us back,” Kohli added.
India’s last defeat was against Australia at Perth during the 2018-19 series but the loss at the Basin Reserve would hurt them more because the visitors have not surrendered in such fashion of late. This is a team that plays fast bowling much better than their predecessors, the reason for their success on bouncy Australian tracks. But when it comes to facing conventional seam and swing bowling in testing conditions, they are yet to learn the art of saving a Test match.
Mayank Agarwal was the only batsman who felt at home, albeit in patches, as New Zealand showed what Test match strategy is all about. If the first innings was about mixing back of length deliveries with fuller length balls, the second saw the pacers bowl round the wicket and target the rib cage. The disconcerting line stifled them.
Rahane (29 off 75 balls) and Vihari (15 off 79 balls) are players who only play long-form cricket at the international level and both are known for their patience. But both fell to great deliveries. Within the first 20 minutes, the two seasoned practitioners of swing had knocked the stuffing out of India’s resistance.
New Zealand now have 120 points in the World Test championship and India stay on top with 360 points.
NONPLUSSED KOHLI
Later Kohli said they “can’t help it” if a few want to make a “big deal” out of one loss. “We know we haven’t played well, but if people want to make a big deal out of it, make a mountain out of it, we can’t help it as we don’t think like that,” he said at the post-match media interaction.
“Some people might want it to be the end of the world but it’s not. For us, it’s a game of cricket we lost and we move on and keep our heads high,” Kohli said.
“We understand that we need to play well to win, also at home. There’s no cakewalk at international level as teams will come and beat you. You accept it and that defines our character as a side.”
If he had given credence to the “outside chatter”, he said the team wouldn’t have reached where it is now. “That’s why we have been able to play this kind of cricket. If we would have paid attention to the outside chatter, we would again be at No. 7 or 8 in the rankings. We don’t really bother about what people are saying on the outside,” he said.
“If we have lost then we have no shame in accepting that. It means we didn’t play this game well. It doesn’t mean that we have become a bad team overnight. People might want to change our thoughts, but it doesn’t work like that.
“We will work hard, and after four days play just like we have played all these years. Just because we have lost one match in between all wins doesn’t mean that the belief is gone. The dressing room thinks differently and team atmosphere is different.”