IND vs NZ 1st Test: New Zealand deliver stinging blow as India falter at home

India players on Day 5 against New Zealand at Bangalore yesterday. Pics/PTI, AFP

It took New Zealand a little over two hours on Sunday to end a 36-year for a Test win on Indian soil. The privilege of taking them past the winning post at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium fell on Will Young, who cracked Ravindra Jadeja behind point to secure a famous eight-wicket win that has given the visitors an unexpected 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

The game was New Zealand's to lose coming into the last day's skirmishes. Their target was a modest 107 - another 75 runs could have made the chase interesting - and even though there was pronounced seam movement after play began an hour behind schedule due to overnight and morning rains, and even though the bounce was unpredictable, India needed a miracle of sorts to defend that small total successfully.

Will Young celebrates NZ's win

Jasprit Bumrah briefly lifted home hopes with the scalp of skipper Tom Latham off the second ball of the morning, one that nipped back to beat the left-hander on the inside edge and trap him palpably in front. Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj bowled their hearts out, sticking to their lines and lengths and hardly throwing up a loose offering, forcing Devon Conway and Will Young to be carefully circumspect.

Bumrah's brilliance

There were numerous plays and misses outside off but New Zealand hung on grimly, knowing that time wasn't a factor and they didn't have to do anything silly. Conway and Young seemed set to cash in on the early grind when Bumrah produced another beauty that snaked away from Conway and struck the left-hander on the back pad. Michael Gough negated the leg before shout but India reviewed the decision and were rewarded when replays flashed three reds.

Also Read: Battle feel in Bangalore

Thirty-five for two wasn't quite a mini-crisis though another wicket immediately might have sent New Zealand pulses racing manically. Enter Rachin Ravindra, fresh off a fluent first-innings ton, to instantly calm whatever nerves there might have been. Two cracking fours off his first three deliveries sent him on his way and though Ravindra Jadeja was able to get the ball to leap venomously or shoot through at ankle height from the rough and the cracks, the alarms were neither sustained nor serious.

Rachin's calm and Young's enterprise knocked out whatever fight there was in the Indian camp, their undefeated 75-run alliance formalising a result that was very much on the cards when the teams came to the ground in the morning.

Also Read: ‘My job is to perform'

Back in 1988

It was New Zealand's first victory in India since November 1988 when, under John Wright, they eked out a 136-run win at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. The hero that time was John Bracewell, the off-spinner who took six second-innings wickets to send the hosts crashing to 145 all out. This time, there were numerous stars, the most luminous being Player of the Match Rachin.

Brief scores

India 346 & 462 lost to NZ 402 & 110-2 (W Young 48', R Ravindra 39'; J Bumrah 2-29) by eight wickets.