New Zealand inflict India’s first home Test defeat in 13 years | Cricket news

India suffered a humiliating three-day home defeat by 113 runs in the second Test in Pune on Saturday as New Zealand became the first team to win in the country in 13 years.

It was also the Kiwis’ first win in India after they ended a 38-year wait to win a Test in India in the first match of the series.

India’s rest of the innings total (255), after being set a target of 359, was bolstered by Ravindra Jadeja’s ninth 42, which led the comeback from 167-7. New Zealand left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner was the star of the show as he took six wickets to take his total for the match to 13.

Jadeja was the last wicket to fall as he hunkered down, continuing the Kiwi onslaught in pursuit of an unlikely target at the time.

India’s loss to New Zealand a ‘collective failure’

“We failed to respond to the challenges and we are sitting here with the result,” India captain Rohit Sharma said afterwards. “We didn’t bat well enough, if you want to win Test matches you have to take 20 wickets but the batsmen have to score runs too.

“We came out thinking we could chase the target, but constant pressure from both sides meant we couldn’t respond to those challenges.

“We want to do well and win our next match and not look too far ahead. This is a collective failure. This is a team that failed to rise to the challenge thrown at us and we will come with better intentions, ideas and methods at Wankhede (in the final Test).”

Yashaswi Jaiswal went on the attack with some stunning knocks to get India going in the chase, but his dismissal for 77 by Santner and Rishabh Pant after lunch left India in deep trouble at 127-4.

Santner, who had earlier removed Rohit Sharma for eight and Shubman Gill for 23, continued to torment India as the left-arm spinner trapped Virat Kohli’s trump card LBW for 17 and set off alarms in the home dressing room.

Sarfaraz Khan failed to replicate his heroics with the bat from the opening match, perishing for nine after missing a low delivery from Santner to hand the bowler his fifth wicket.

Shoulders did drop when Washington Sundar fell on 21 to Glenn Phillips late in the afternoon.

New Zealand became the first after England to win in India

“It’s a really special feeling, I’m very proud to be in this position,” said New Zealand captain Tom Latham. “When you come here you want to compete and we played fantastically well last week but we wanted to stay level and focus on this game.

“Santner was fantastic. He pitched very well, and after being in the group for a long time, he finally got his reward.”

New Zealand were bowled out for 255 in their second innings behind skipper Tom Latham’s 86, and handy contributions lower down the order put them in a strong position to secure India’s first-ever series win.

India’s most successful run chase at home is the 387-4 they achieved against England in Chennai in 2008 on a much better track than the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, where spinners wreak havoc.

The hosts were looking to avoid their first series defeat at home since losing to England in 2012 as their record of 18 consecutive home series wins after trailing 2-1 was also humiliating.

Resuming on 198-5 with a lead of more than 300 runs already on an increasingly difficult pitch, New Zealand were going well in the morning until Jadeja bowled Tom Blundell for 41 for his first wicket of the match.

Santner, who took 7-53 on Friday to give the Black Caps the lead, looked to target Jadeja but misread the left-arm looping delivery and was caught in the deep for four.

Former captain Tim Southee followed him back into the dugout almost instantly, edged off spinner Ashwin to Rohit, who showed quick reflexes to take a superb catch at slip to elicit loud cheers from the crowd.

Washington took a great move in the deep when Ajaz Patel fell to Jadeja’s single and William O’Rourke was bowled for a duck, leaving Phillips stranded on a well-made 48 not out.

Santner’s match figures of 13-157 eclipsed his previous best in Test cricket of 6-93 and he was named Man of the Match as a result.

“It’s very difficult to win a series here, as India have shown for a very long time, so it’s very nice for us,” reflected the 32-year-old.

India remain the World Test Cup (WTC) leaders, with Australia in second place and the top two nations to play in the final at Lord’s next June. The final Test of the New Zealand tour begins on Friday, November 1. According to the data, the Kiwis are fourth in the WTC table.