Unless there is further rain, there is just too much time left in the Bangalore Test for India to look to block their way to a draw. There was some swing and seam movement with the new ball in the morning session on Day 3 so New Zealand will bank on that. It wasn’t anywhere as threatening as yesterday morning, but just enough to keep them interested. The Blackcaps have their tails up after the spectacular first-innings performance, anyway. Exactly half of the game is left to be played, and India need to score 500 to be competitive again.
Devon Conway (91), Tim Southee (65) and Rachin Ravindra (134) spearheaded New Zealand’s replay to reinforce the Kiwi dominance after the hosts were bundled out for merely 46 in the first dig, their lowest total in an innings at home.
Their previous worst was 75 against the West Indies at Delhi 1987. It is also the lowest score by any team in India, surpassing New Zealand’s 62 runs at Wankhede on their last tour in 2021.
It was the third occasion India lost three-plus wickets for 10 runs or fewer in their own backyard since 1990 and accidentally all the instances have transpired against New Zealand. They were down in the dumps at 7/3 in Mohali in 1999 and 2/3 against New Zealand at Ahmedabad in 2010.
Matt Henry finished with an awesome 5 for 15 while William O’Rourke ended with an equally potent for 22 to demolish India. The shambolically poor batting effort meant that the bowlers had too much pressure to deal with. New Zealand finished the second day at 180/3, leading by 134 runs. And even though India made a positive start to the ‘moving day’ courtesy an accurate Ravindra Jadeja, they couldn’t prevent the visitors from securing a tall lead of 356 runs.