Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant. (Source – BCCI)
Team India continued their proactive response against New Zealand in the face of a massive deficit but were undone in the final stages of the day before rain and bad light forced the players off the field. As a result, New Zealand now need only 107 runs to register a first Test win in India since 1988.
Rishabh Pant (99 off 105) walked out at number 5 and immediately set out to work. He got in the rescue act with Sarfaraz Khan (150 off 195) and put up a 177-run stand in 35 overs and kept India’s momentum in the game running. Both of them kept batting in top gear and Pant’s innings included as many as five sixes including a monster 107-meter hit outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. India probably walked away with the better part of two sessions in the day thanks to this partnership.
Sarfaraz’s dismissal off Southee ultimately triggered a collapse that saw India lose their last seven wickets for just 58 runs with William O’Rourke (3/92) and Matt Henry (3/102) made merry on either side of tea with the second new ball after rain forced an early lunch. India were shot out for 462 after being placed at an optimistic 408/3, setting New Zealand a target of 107. The visitors batted for all of four balls without scoring before bad light and rain ultimately brought a premature close to proceedings to Day 4 of the first Test of the series.
Also Read- India vs New Zealand: First Test, Weather Report – Day 5 weather insights
Here are the most important stats from the day:
22 – Sarfaraz Khan’s century marked the 22nd instance of an Indian player registering a century and a duck in the same Test.
550 – Sarfaraz Khan’s century was the 550th century for India in Test cricket.
105 – Sixes hit by India in Tests this year. India are the first team to hit 100 sixes in a single calendar year in Tests.
10 – Rishabh Pant became the 10th Indian player to be dismissed on 99 in Tests. Sourav Ganguly is the only Indian to be dismissed twice for 99 in Tests.
07 – The number of times Rishabh Pant has been dismissed in the 90’s in Test cricket to go with his 6 Test hundreds. Among Indian players, only Sachin Tendulkar (10) and Rahul Dravid (9) have dismissed more times in the “nervous nineties” in Tests.
02 – Rishabh Pant became the second fastest player to score 2500 Test runs in terms of balls faced getting there in 3381 balls. Adam Gilchrist is the fastest getting there in 3071 balls.
462 – India are the first team to make 400 or more in the second innings of a match after being bowled out for below 50 in their first. The previous highest was 390 by South Africa against England at Birmingham in 1924 after being bowled out for 30 in the first dig. The Proteas though, lost that match by an innings.