Indore: After India declared their second innings on 216, with Cheteshwar Pujara scoring a fantastic ton and veteran Gautam Gambhir reaching his half century, setting a winning target of 475 for New Zealand in the third and the final Test match of the series, Ravichandran Ashwin (7-59) took his 21st five-wicket haul in test cricket to run through the Black Caps who crashed to a 321-run defeat against India on Tuesday, slumping to 153 all out on day four.

After tea Kane Williamson (27) and Martin Guptill (29) added 35 runs for the second wicket. Ashwin got the breakthrough as he trapped Williamson lbw. Ross Taylor (32) then added some quick runs. Ravindra Jadeja (2-45) had James Neesham caught at short midwicket, and ended Guptill’s 60-ball stay as well, trapping him lbw.

Ashwin ran through the tail thereafter. First he bowled Mitchell Santner (14) and Jeetan Patel (0) in quick succession. Matt Henry (0) holed out to mid-off then. The innings ended in the final over of the day as Trent Boult (4) offered a simple return catch to Ashwin.

Day 3

The New Zealanders were pushed on the back-foot, as after Virat Kohli's fantastic double century (211) and Ajinkya Rahane’s scintillating ton on Day 2, it was Ravichandran Ashwin’s turn on the third day. The off-spinner took six wickets that wrapped off the Kiwi innings at 299, giving India a first innings lead of 258 runs in the third Test match being played at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore, on Monday.

Resuming on 28 without loss in reply to India's 557/5 declared, New Zealanders responded positively with Martin Guptill (73) and Tom Latham (53) featuring in the first century opening stands of the series. Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (6-81) wrecked the tourists in the second session when five wickets fell before James Neesham (71) cobbled together fifty partnerships with Bradley Watling (23) and Mitchell Santner (22) to push New Zealand near the 300 mark.

Ashwin broke the opening stand when Tom Latham hit one back to the bowler. Latham was looking to work the ball down the leg side against the spin but got a top edge which went straight to Ashwin. He picked his second wicket by bamboozling Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson again. Kane was looking to play a cut shot but the ball took an inside edge and hit the stumps.

Martin Guptill was unfortunately run out as Ashwin fielded the ball of his own bowling and it went on to hit the stumps. Luke Ronchi became Ashwin's fourth victim when he edged on to the wicketkeeper, but the ball ricocheted off Wriddhiman Saha's gloves and alert Ajinkya Rahane dived to his right to complete the catch. He claimed yet another five-wicket haul as he trapped Neesham in front of the wicket and dismissed Trent Boult to pick his sixth wicket.

This ended New Zealand's first innings with 299 while India still leading by 276 as they finished off 18/0 at the stumps.

"I don't find my rhythm very quickly. I take my five overs to get into groove, and once I do, my body lightens up and everything changes very quickly after that. Got to credit Rahane for the way he took the catches in the morning. I look to get a five for, as a batsman to get a hundred. You also need the help of other bowlers not to pick up wickets to get five fors as often as I do,” said Ashwin.

Day 2

Skipper Virat Kohli scored a double century (211) while his deputy Ajinkya Rahane played a fantastic innings of 188 runs as India piled on a mammoth 557 for 5 before declaring their first innings on the second day on Sunday. New Zealand were 28/0 at the close of play on Day 2.

Meanwhile, Kohli became the first Indian captain to hit two double tons in Test cricket. His knock ended at 211 runs but not before he had scored 20 fours and faced 366 deliveries. This was Kohli’s 13th hundred in 48th match. Kohli and Rahane also stitched a 365-run stand for the fourth wicket which is the second highest by any Indian pair against New Zealand.

For New Zealand, Santner had the best figures with 1 for 53 in 19 overs while Boult had a bowling figure of 1/54 in 16 overs. Patel gave away 65 in 24 overs for his wicket.

Day 1

Meanwhile on Day 1, winning his seventh consecutive toss as a captain at home, Virat Kohli opted to bat again and Gautam Gambhir was on the attack since the onset while Murli Vijay (10) missed out against New Zealand on the first day of the third Test at Indore on Saturday.

New Zealand bowlers kept things tight as Cheteshwar Pujara and Gambhir were steady. Gambhir (29) was trapped leg before wicket just before lunch in his return test and Pujara (41) was castled in the second session by a beauty from Mitchell Santner. Therefater, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane had an unbroken partnership of 167 that took India to 267 for 3 at the end of Day 1. Kohli in the process scored his 13th Test century which was the first by batsman of either side in this series.

Gautam Gambhir and Murli Vijay started well but Vijay got out early. Gambhir continued the pace of the game and hit two sixes in an over, both being short pitch balls. After that Gambhir and Pujara managed to get some runs and added 34 runs when Gambhir got LBW by trent Boult. Pujara (41) contributed some crucial runs and did 40-run partnership with Captain Virat Kohli when Mitchell Santner bowled him out.

Kohli got together with Ajinkya Rahane for a match altering stand and the duo ensured there were no more casualties for the day. The pair dominated the final session and upped the run rate considerably in comparison to the first two sessions. The run rate which was languishing at a little over 2.50 was under 3 at close of play. After a period of hard work where Rahane was seen struggling against the short ball off Matt Henry, he recovered well to go on to score his half century. He remained unbeaten at the stumps on 79, while Kohli on the other hand was as solid as ever. They manged to score 119 runs in that final session. Kohli was asked in pre match press conference as to why there were no centuries this series. He responded by scoring one himself today.