 "India lose first Test series at home since 2012 as New Zealand win 2nd Test match by 113 runs")
New Zealand created cricket history on Saturday as they defeated India by 113 runs in the second Test at the MCA Stadium in Pune to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. This is the first time New Zealand have won a Test series in India in 69 years, having first played a Test match in India in 1955. The 2-0 series win for New Zealand also brings an end to India’s 12-year unbeaten run in home Test series.
India’s last Test series defeat at home came against Alastair Cook’s England when the visitors won 2-1 in December 2012. Since then India had won 18 Test series on trot at home. Since the defeat to England in 2012, Team India had enjoyed 4331 days being unbeaten at home in the Test series till it came to an end on Saturday (26 October 2024).
Read: When did Kohli and Rohit last score hundreds in home Test matches?
India’s dominance in the Test series at home is unprecedented in the history of the game with the second-best streak of consecutive Test series wins at home being 10 which belongs to Australia. Australia won 10 Tests in a row at home twice, between November 1994 to November 2000 and July 2004 to November 2008. West Indies and New Zealand with eight Test series wins at home respectively are joint-third in the list.
Santner spins New Zealand to historic win
After winning the first Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru by eight wickets last week, it was Mitchell Santner’s spin bowling that guided the visitors to their maiden Test series win in India. The left-arm spinner took 13 wickets in the match and exposed the Indian batter’s poor technique against the spin bowling.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAfter taking seven wickets in the first innings, Santner took six more in the second essay as India were bowled out for 245 in 60.2 overs, chasing 359. Besides Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravindra Jadeja who scored 77 and 42 respectively, none of the Indian batters were able to stand up and make it count as the hosts inched towards their first series loss in 12 years.
New Zealand have defeated India! ✅
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) October 26, 2024
This is the first time New Zealand have beaten India on their home turf, marking India’s first home series loss in 12 years. A remarkable achievement for New Zealand! 🇳🇿🤯#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/gXFD24WHG2
No big knock from Rohit and Kohli
Captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who have been struggling for form in Tests, especially at home, were dismissed for just 8 and 17 runs respectively, both falling to Santner.
The worst dismissal was that of Rishabh Pant who got run out for a duck after a mixup in the middle with Kohli. India were 127/3 at that stage but one can only wonder what would have been the final result had Pant not got out so early in his innings.
Santner finished the innings with bowling figures of 6/104 and returned match figures of 13/157. besides Santner, Ajaz Patel took two wickets for 43 and Glenn Phillips chipped in with one more.
Day 3 in the second Test began with New Zealand 301 runs ahead and on 198/5, but they were only able to 57 runs more as Jadeja picked up three wickets in the first session.
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