On this day in 2020, India lost the second Test of the series against New Zealand by 7 wickets in Christchurch. After suffering a 10-wicket loss in the first Test in Wellington, India lost the second Test and the series. It was the first and only clean sweep India suffered under Virat Kohli’s captaincy in the longest format of the game. It was also India’s second loss in a Test series under Virat’s captaincy.
India was asked to bat first in Christchurch on a green surface under clouds. The visiting side batted extremely well and posted 242 runs on the board. Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Hanuma Vihari’s fifties helped India. In reply, NZ was reduced to 153/7 at one stage. The home side recovered from there and nearly equalized the first innings.
With a slender lead of 7 runs, India didn’t have a huge advantage. Their batting in the second innings was bad which coated then the match. India was dismissed for just 124 runs as no matter stayed longer in the middle. A target of 132 wasn’t threatening enough. Tom Latham and Tom Blundell scored fifties respectively and helped NZ to claim a win.
Despite losing 3 wickets, NZ claimed a comfortable win and clinched the series 2-0. In the first Test, the story was much worse for India. Batting first, the visiting side was reduced to 165 runs. While NZ was 225/7 at one stage, India’s inability to clean up the tail ensured NZ added 123 more runs. From there, India was always playing catch-up game.
In the second innings, India was dismissed for 191 runs. NZ had to chase just 9 runs, which they did in 1.4 overs to claim a 10-wicket win. New Zealand won the series 2-0 and ended the tour on a high. While India won the T20I series 5-0, Kiwis won the ODI series 3-0, and swept both the Tests
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