Cricket: Gill misses ton as India post 263 before New Zealand limp to 171-9

• Gill scores 90, Pant scores 60 on a difficult pitch
• India lead by 28 runs in first innings
• New Zealand erase deficit as Young scores 51
• By the end of the game, the tourists are ahead by 143 points

Shubman Gill missed a century while Rishabh Pant made a quick 60 as India posted 263 in reply to New Zealand’s 235 before their spinners reduced the tourists to 171-9 at stumps on the second day of the third Test with low rates in Mumbai. on Saturday.

Ajaz Patel was seven unbeaten after Will Young battled on with 51 in Test conditions as New Zealand erased a narrow 28-run deficit to build a valuable lead of 143 at the end of another hot day at the Wankhede Stadium.

Akash Deep put New Zealand under some early pressure in the second stanza when he castled captain Tom Latham for one and Washington Sundar caught opener Devon Conway for 22 early in a thrilling final session.

Ravichandran Ashwin (3-63) stumped Rachin Ravindra for four, leaving New Zealand in the lurch at 44-3, before pulling off a fine catch that removed the dangerous Daryl Mitchell for 21 after the batsman had made 50. wound stand with Yang.

Ravindra Jadeja (4-52) took his second wicket by dismissing Tom Blundell for four while Ashwin had an aggressive Glenn Phillips caught for 26 before momentum swung India’s direction further after Ish Sodhi fell for eight.

Young patiently tried to take the game away from India but returned the ball to Ashwin and Matt Henry was castled by Jadeja for 10 on the last ball of the day.

Gill, riding his luck, looked well set to score a ton early as India inched towards New Zealand’s total after lunch, but the batsman edged spinner Ajaz Patel to slip and departed with 90 runs.

Patel then removed Ashwin for six to finish with superb figures of 5-103 as Deep were bowled out, leaving Washington unbeaten on 38.

Early nerves

A late collapse on Friday meant India resumed at 86-4 and Pant calmed early nerves by hitting Patel for three boundaries on debut and taking one for four boundaries a little later.

Gill was given a reprieve on 45 as he attempted to attack Phillips midway through the first session when substitute Mark Chapman made a simple catch after running from deep.

He then reached his seventh Test half-century as the Black Caps struggled to hold off the series after missing a big chance to warm up the hosts and boost their own chances of an unprecedented 3–0 series win.

Pant, who came out of his crease to hit Patel out of the park a couple of times and pulled Phillips for four, then took advantage of a single to reach his fifty in just 36 balls, the fastest by an Indian against New Zealand.

Phillips was unlucky to miss again when Henry dropped Pant for 53, but Sodhi caught the batsman lbw to end the fifth-wicket partnership on 96.

Jadeja was bowled out early in the second session on 14 when Phillips forced him to edge one to slip while Sarfaraz Khan was caught behind Patel for a four-ball duck.

New Zealand won the first match in Bangalore by eight wickets, their first Test win in India in 36 years, and clinched the series in Pune with a 113-run win.

The last time India lost at home was in 2000 when they lost 2-0 to South Africa. (Reporting by Srivatsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)

– Reuters