India’s first innings in Bangalore against New Zealand would have brought back flashbacks for fans of India’s collapse in Adelaide on their previous tour of Australia. With Rishabh Pant top-scoring with 20 and an innings consisting of five batters registering ducks.
Indian fans were reminded of that innings with the brutal procession of dismissals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday morning, where India’s batters were bundled for 36 runs in the pink ball Test at the Adelaide Oval.
Australian cricket media were quick to take advantage of the unfortunate innings for India, realising the opportunity to rub some salt into India’s fresh wounds.
Posting on X, cricket.com.au shared a tongue-in-cheek video, which depicts the fall of wickets in India’s 36 all-out, along with a caption of “Is 'All Out 46' the new 'All Out 36'?”
Kiwis wreak havoc in Bangalore
New Zealand used a similar template to tear apart India’s batting order as Australia on that day. The pacers bowled tight lines and lengths and got plenty of purchase from the Bangalore track, with overcast conditions and dampness on the pitch.
{{/usCountry}}New Zealand used a similar template to tear apart India’s batting order as Australia on that day. The pacers bowled tight lines and lengths and got plenty of purchase from the Bangalore track, with overcast conditions and dampness on the pitch.
{{/usCountry}}Matt Henry was the star for the Kiwis, taking five wickets and coming back to haunt India after his player of the match performance in the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal.
He was given able support by Tim Southee, who got proceedings underway by bowling Rohit Sharma to take the first wickets on the innings. Will O’Rourke, playing his first match on Indian turf, got the big wicket as he dismissed Virat Kohli with a sharply rising bouncer that was caught at leg-slip.
New Zealand were also aided by excellence in the field, making some wickets out of nothing. Sarfaraz Khan was caught brilliantly by a diving Devon Conway at mid-off, hanging on with one hand. Ajaz Patel also took a sharp catch at backward point to dismiss Yashasvi Jaiswal after he and Rishabh Pant put on the highest partnership of the innings.
For India, the match is quickly slipping out of their hands as the Kiwis went into stumps with a 134-run lead and seven wickets in hand. A heavy loss looks on the cards, with some questions for India to answer as they prepare for difficult conditions in Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.