New Zealand clinched a draw from the jaws of defeat in Kanpur, scripting a famous survival tale in India once again. They had done something similar in Kanpur many years ago, back in 1978, and they did it again today, with Rachin Ravindra staring at the business end of the game.
With India needing nine wickets and New Zealand 280 runs short of their target at the start of the day, it was evident that the visiting team would not get close to the 284-mark as the ball was doing things batters weren’t predicting. Despite all that, for the batters to have gone an entire session without losing the wicket at the start of the day was a catalyst to the eventual result happening.
William Somerville and Tom Latham continued from last night and showed great resolve early on against the fast bowlers. Somerville, who walked in as a night-watch for the side, looked comfortable in the middle, and he hit some delightful shots. He presented the full face of the bat to smash Umesh for a picturesque straight drive and kept punching the ball on the offside with great timing.
The duo did not keep up the scoring rate very high, but survived the first session without breaking much sweat. There were a few moments when the ball turned viciously or kept agonizingly low to churn out a few “oohs and aahs”, but besides that, it was a faultless session for the Kiwi.
India came out with an intent to attack Somerville with short deliveries in the second session, and it took just one ball for their plan to materialize. Umesh Yadav steamed it short and quick, Somerville went for a pull and Shubman Gill at fine-leg covered good ground before completing a spectacular catch. That breakthrough, however, did not prompt further damage immediately.
Latham hung along for a while and completed his fifty in the company of skipper Kane Williamson. This was the session where New Zealand further restricted themselves from the bliss of scoring runs. They made 75 runs in the first session, which was a positive outcome for those hoping for a Kiwi win, but the scoring rate was under two in the second session.
Just when the game seemed to be slipping away for the hosts, Ravichandran Ashwin got a breakthrough out of the blue. Latham tried to steer a wide-and-short delivery towards point but instead found an inside edge. In the final over of the session, Ross Taylor was adjudged LBW to a beautiful delivery from Jadeja and suddenly, they could smell a win in the distance.
The final session went pretty much according to the plan for India, for most parts. Despite stunning resistance, wickets kept tumbling. Ashwin cleaned up Tom Blundell in quite a weird way, Williamson fell prey to the brilliance of Ravindra Jadeja, Henry Nicholls couldn’t cope with Axar and walked back – the script seemed set for a late India win.
Rachin Ravindra walked in with under 30 overs remaining in the day. The youngster making his debut was cut out to play the one-shot batters practice for many moons, the forward and backward defence against spinners, and he did that to perfection. He tucked the odd ball aside for a few runs, but most importantly, he looked impenetrable.
Kyle Jamieson hung around for a while, but Jadeja found a way through his bat to dismiss him leg-before. Tim Southee was dismissed in a similar fashion, which left India needing just one wicket to win the game. Ajaz Patel walked in to accompany Ravindra, and the duo had a dramatic final 45 minutes to negotiate.
The light readings were taken after every over of survival, both batters were answering India with full-blown defensive shots, and hope was eradicated with every passing ball. After 90 overs of play was done, although India could’ve bowled more as they had 15 minutes still in hand, the umpires decided to call the game off due to bad light, and both captains shook hands to confirm the same.
Ravindra remained unbeaten on 18 off 91, and Ajaz faced 23 deliveries for the two runs he scored. Iyer was named player of the match for his outstanding effort, accumulating 170 runs across both innings.
Brief scores
India 1st innings: 345 all out in 111.1 overs (Iyer 105, Gill 52, Jadeja 50; Southee 5/69, Jamieson 3/91)
New Zealand 1st innings: 296 all out in 142.3 overs (Latham 95, Young 89; Patel 5/62, Ashwin 3/82)
India 2nd innings: 234/7 declared in 81 overs (Iyer 65, Saha 61*; Jamieson 3/40)
New Zealand 2nd innings: 165/9 in 98 overs (Latham 52, Somerville 36, Ravindra 18*; Jadeja 4/40, Ashwin 3/35)
Result: Match Drawn
