India vs New Zealand Live Score 3rd Test Day 3: Spinners expected to finish NZ early

India vs New Zealand 3rd Test Day Live Updates

During the second day, the ball started to show an extremely sharp turn and all the players were enjoying the pitch. This makes the fight for newcomers a repulsive one, and makes building partnerships a key element of a successful battle on this field.

India will be looking to complete the final wicket as soon as possible and Ravindra Jadeja will hit his second five of the match to complete a great performance with the ball in this match.

Finding runs at the top of the order will be key for India. While this is likely to be a manageable chase for a team with the quality and depth present in the Indian squad, there will be concerns about the batting form of several players in the squad, especially the senior members in the form of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

With the pair low on confidence ahead of the crucial five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting later this month, it would be of great benefit to them individually and to the morale of the team as a whole if they can get a result at the Wankhede Stadium and bounce back the two defeats they suffered against the Kiwis.

From New Zealand’s point of view, there is still plenty of scope to pull off a win on a pitch that has demons to help the likes of Ajaz Patel and Ish Sodhi. As India showed in the first innings, there are plenty of chances for India to catch fire and lose wickets in clusters, which can put huge pressure on the lower middle for the hosts.

Yashaswi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma will have to endure a pivotal period for the pacers to work, with Rohit in particular battling Matt Henry and Will O’Rourke. A strong opening partnership will set the stage for the following bowlers to play with confidence and lead India home in a tough chase.

In India’s first innings, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill steadied the ship after a rocky spell to end the first day. The pair countered to score in quick succession and put India in a strong position as they embarked on a 96-run partnership as both players crossed half-centuries.

Rishabha Pant was caught LBW by Ish Sodhi, leading to a period of worry for India as they lost their next three wickets for just 24 runs. Shubman Gill hit the 90s but was dismissed and some late big hitting from Washington Sundar was enough for India to build a narrow lead. Sundar would try to extend it further but Akash Deep ran out of the last wicket to close in on the Indian innings.

In reply, New Zealand were dismissed early on when Akash Deep hit one through Tom Latham’s defense to break the stumps. Will Young and Devon Conway started to recover to erase the lead shortly after lunch, but were caught on a mistake by Washington Sundar’s delivery that swung and bounced. Rachin Ravindra was next up to end the disappointing Test when he rushed to the field but didn’t get close to the ball against Ashwin, bowled by Pant’s good glove work.

Will Young and Daryl Mitchell anchored the innings well from there, but Jadeja struck when Ashwin took a superb high catch after Mitchell mistimed a mid-air attempt. A couple of quick wickets fell after that as New Zealand suffered their own collapse, going from 94-3 to 150-8.

Glenn Phillips hit some hard shots to save the score but was run out by a brilliant carrom ball from Ashwin before another carrom ball saw Young go for a caught and bowled delivery to the experienced bowler.

Matt Henry and Ajaz Patel took the charge before the close of play, but Jadeja slipped one past Henry to knock off his stumps with the final delivery of the day, with India one wicket away from entering for their second innings with the bat.