Wellington: If the first Test was nothing short of a disaster for the visitors, the second Test could probably announce their second coming. With Ishant Sharma on fire, ripping apart the Kiwi batting card, all the Indians now need to do is let their willows speak. With the hosts all out on 192, the Indians managed 100 for the loss of two wickets at stumps on Day 1.
India began the proceedings well, winning the toss and inviting the hosts to set a total. With the opening bowlers Zaheer Khan and Mohammad Shami failing to deliver the goods, skipper Dhoni turned to the lean Ishant Sharma. And he didn’t disappoint. Call it an apt answer to being sidelined for the next two major international tournaments, or just for his own ego boost, Ishant Sharma roared into the match and how! New Zealand bowed out in their first innings, shutting shop for 192.
Closing with his best figures of 6 for 51, the first victim of his howlers was Kiwi opener Hamish Rutherford (12), But then, the mean machine did not stop there. He scalped the other opener Peter Fulton (13) in his very next over, plumb in front of the wicket. The other four wickets that Ishant managed to topple were of Tom Latham, who didn’t bother the scorekeepers, his fourth wicket coming in the form of Corey Anderson (24), who was looking threatening till Ishant did him in. BJ Watling (0) and Tim Southee (32) helped him reached his personal best magic figures.
The other four wickets belonged to Mohammad Shami, who got the better of Williamson (47), who got two ‘no ball’ lifelines, skipper Brendon McCullum (8), Neeshum (33) and Boult (2). While the good news is Ishant and Shami took charge of the situation, the bad news is, none of the other bowlers clicked.
The Indian first innings started off smoothly with Dhawan playing cautiously. However, Murali Vijay (2), at the other end, could not sustain and fell to a beauty by Tim Southee. Next up was Pujara, who followed Dhawan’s approach, but soon fell at 19, lbw by Boult. At stumps, the Indian have Dhawan on 71, with Ishant Sharma playing the night watchman’s role, scoring 3.