Playing a Test match after a gap of four and a half years for India, off-spinner Jayant Yadav ran through New Zealand’s lower-order in the first hour on Day 4 in the second Test in Mumbai, allowing the Indian team to wrap up the Test and two-match series with a 1-0 lead.
After frustratingly missing the outside edge on multiple deliveries at the start of play, Jayant, who was entrusted with the ball ahead of Axar Patel, finally got his rewards with the wicket of Rachin Ravindra (18).
Jayant could’ve had his man earlier on had umpire Nitin Menon given what seemed like a plumb LBW to the naked eye. Nevertheless, it was still the second time in the Test that the bowler got his man.
Jayant went on to add three more scalps to his kitty, getting Kyle Jamieson (0), Tim Southee (0) and Will Somerville (1) out in next to no time.
Senior spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin then finished off the proceedings with a stumping of Henry Nicholls (44), whom he had beaten countless times in the innings without ever getting the outside edge.
The wicket meant Ashwin ended the match with eight wickets and figures of 4/8 and 4/34, symbolising India’s domination for the Test match where they posted scores of 325 and 276/7 dec before dismissing New Zealand for just 62 and 167 either side.
For New Zealand, it was a painful reminder of the gap between them and India in these conditions. After surviving in Kanpur, partly because of the bad light, they had no room to hide against a water-tight Indian line-up with almost no gaps for them to exploit.
The biggest difference was the spin attack where Ashwin, Axar, Jadeja and then Jayant hardly gave them scoring balls and put them under excessive pressure with the ball. For New Zealand, once their Kanpur saviours Southee and Jamieson were taken out of the equation by the surface in Mumbai, their spin attack was exposed.
That may sound harsh for Ajaz Patel, who ended with 14 wickets, including a rare 10-fer in the first-innings, but he was never as accurate as Ashwin was throughout the Test. Off-spinner William Somerville would’ve been the biggest disappointment for the Kiwis, made to almost hide through the game and the series, ending with figures of 0/80 and 0/59.
Brief scores
India 325 (Mayank 150, Axar Patel 52; Ajaz Patel 10/119) & 276/7 dec (Agarwal 62, Gill 47; Ajaz Patel 4/106) beat New Zealand 62 Jamieson 17; Ashwin 4/8, Siraj 3/19) & 167 (Mitchell 60; Ashwin 4/34, Yadav 4/49) by 372 runs
