India dethroned arch-rivals Pakistan from the top of the ICC Test rankings with a 178-run win over the Kiwis in the 2nd Test match at Eden Gardens Kolkata. India took 2-0 lead in the three-Test match series. The last match will be played in Indore on October 8.
Day 1: On day one of the 2nd test match between India and New Zealand, Kiwis dominated as hosts post 239/7. The New Zealanders could scarcely believe what they saw on first day morning-the wicket had not been shaved of the thin layer of grass. In this era getting a grassy track in India is like striking gold. India won the toss and chose to bat. Shikhar Dhawan fell in the second over of the day, clean bowled by Matt Henry. "We knew it was important with the new ball to take advantage of it because the wicket had been under covers for a long time," said Henry. Vijay couldn't do anything about a fantastic ball as it moved away just enough to touch the edge of his bat on its way to the wicketkeeper." I think we had a few soft dismissals. 240 or 250 for 4 would have been good for us, but I think we lost two extra wickets," said by Vijay. India were 46/3 and the hopes of a massive first innings total were gone. Luckily the two men in the middle, Cheteshwar Pujara (87 off 219) and Ajinkya Rahane (77 off 158) possess excellent test match temperament and India managed to score 239/7 on stumps of day 1.
Day 2: Day 2 was totally India's day as India seamed ahead. Wriddhiman Saha displayed the fine art of playing and shepherded India to 316 all out. New Zealand didn't start well and lost some early wickets. Shami beat opening batsman Tom Latham to trap him LBW in the second over. Martin Guptil had been beaten by Bhuveneshwar in the first over. He also got Henry Nicolls playing in place of Kane Williamson. Taylor and Ronchi staged a fight-back. Ronchi was dismissed LBW by Jadeja. Just after Ronchi's dismissal, it began to rain and entire ground was covered. When play did resume, the wicket had more juice and bounce. After that Taylor and Santner were dismissed and New Zealand were sent reeling by India's pace restricting them to 122/7 at the stumps. Bhuvneshwar Kumar recorded his first instance of five wickets in an innings in tests in India (5/33).
Day 3: The New Zealand starting the day at 128/7, wagged vigorously. The fine knock by Jeetan Patel helped New Zealand to pass 200 mark as they managed to score 204 all out. When India started they looked confident but the top order wobbled a bit. They lost 4 early wickets of Vijay (7), S Dhawan (17) , Cheteshwar Pujara (4) and Ajinkya Rahane (1). Virat Kohli (45) and Rohit Sharma (82) played a wonderful knock and gave India some confidence. After that Wriddhiman Saha played an important knock and made sure that Indian tail didn't simply fold up. He added 103 runs with Rohit Sharma providing a massive 339 runs lead with still 2 wickets in hand. "You can't go too forward and you can't bat back too. The hits to Shikhar made sure that you wouldn't go too far ahead," said Rohit.
Day 4: India started the day at 227/8 and ended up with 263, a fine recovery from 43/4 and later 106/6. Wriddhiman Saha again hit a half century. New Zealand started well as Martin Guptill and Tom Latham added 104 runs for the first wicket. Nicolls was beaten by Jadeja and edged it to Rahane at slip. Ross Taylor was beaten by Ashwin as the ball drifted, turned in and hit his pad. New Zealand went to tea at 135/3 and Kohli seemed unhappy for he wanted a four day win. The post tea session gladdened Kohli's heart as the wickets started falling one by one. New Zealand were all out for 197 and India won by massive 178 runs, clinch series and overthrow Pakistan from no.1 in test series.
"376 was always tough to chase but the bowlers fought throughout and that's something we can take to Indore. Yes, we are disappointed, we have got to take the positives and hopefully we can play better in the next match," said Ross Taylor, New zealand's stand-in-captain. "Rankings are something that are just an incentive for what you do on the field. I didn't even know how many points we had to get to be No 1. We just want to win every game we play, it's as simple as that," said Kohli after the match.
