IND vs New Zealand: Rishabh Pant hits fifty at Wankhede to keep India in hunt

Rishabh Pant continued his excellent form with the bat for India by scoring a combative and aggressive 50 in the second innings of the Mumbai Test on November 3, Sunday. Pant scored his fifty off just 48 balls as India went into the lunch break at 92 for 6 on Sunday after a mighty collapse of the batting order.

Pant scored 60 runs in the first innings where he scored his fifty in a similar manner and set a record in Tests for India against New Zealand. But the Indian who kept the wicket stood by him in all sorts of trouble. India lost Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli cheaply and were 18 for 3 as they chased down 147 runs to win the Mumbai Test.

Despite mounting pressure at the Wankhede, Pant started in typical fashion as he hit a six off Ajaz Patel to start his innings. However, he sees Yashaswi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan depart at the other end. Pant and Jadeja then steadied the ship a bit with a 42-run partnership with the former doing the bulk of the scoring.

The Indian wicketkeeper got lucky in the 12th over when he survived an LBW scare that the New Zealand camp did not choose to review. Jadeja would fall to Ajaz for 71 as Pant started to free his hands more.

IND vs New Zealand, Mumbai Test Day 3 Update

Pant hit back-to-back boundaries to reach his fifty as India went into lunch with the game on a knife edge. So far in the second innings, Pant has hit 7 boundaries and six hits.

Commentator Ravi Shastri would say, “That fifty is worth more than a hundred.”

Fantastic series by Pant vs New Zealand

Pant enjoyed a prolific series against New Zealand and was India’s best batsman. The wicket-taker is India’s highest with 242 runs in 6 innings, but his success against spin has been most interesting.

Pant scored 187 runs in 3 Tests at an average of 93.5 and a strike rate of 103.