On the third day of the second test on Saturday, India were bowled out for 245 by New Zealand in their chase of 359, Mitchell Santner taking six wickets. This was India’s first series defeat at home in 12 years.
To secure the historic victory, Santner scored 6-104 for a match total of 13, and his senior spin partner Ajaz Patel took the final two Indian wickets, including Ravindra Jadeja for a defiant 42, to win the match.
India suffered their first series defeat on home soil since losing to England in 2012 as they were defeated by eight wickets in seamer-friendly conditions in the opening match at Bengaluru.
The determined Black Caps, who were by far the superior team in both matches and will aim for a clean sweep in Friday’s finale at Mumbai, ended their proud streak of 18 consecutive victories in home series.
India’s best home run chase was 387-4 against England in Chennai in 2008, but spinners at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium destroyed any hopes of a similar effort on the black-soil turner.
They got off to a great start thanks to some spectacular boundaries from Yashasvi Jaiswal, but Santner got rid of him for 77 and Rishabh Pant ran out for a duck after lunch, putting India in serious trouble at 127-4.
Santner, who had previously replaced Rohit Sharma with eight and Shubman Gill with 23, continued to afflict India as the left-arm spinner trapped Virat Kohli with a lbw for 17 and sounded the alarm in the home changing room.
Sarfaraz Khan lost for nine after missing a low delivery from Santner, giving the bowler back-to-back five-wicket hauls, but he was unable to replicate his batting heroics from the opening match.
After Washington Sundar’s 21-run loss to Glenn Phillips late in the afternoon session and Santner’s catch of Ravichandran Ashwin for a solid 18 as India were looking at 206-8, the shoulders really dropped.
After captain Tom Latham’s 86 and useful contributions lower down the order put New Zealand in a strong position to win their first series in India, they were bowled out for 255 in their second innings.
New Zealand started the morning on 198-5 and had a lead of more than 300 runs on an increasingly difficult surface. They played well until Jadeja bowled Tom Blundell for 41 for his first wicket of the match.
Santner, who scored 7-53 to give the Black Caps the lead on Friday, tried to hit Jadeja but misread the left-arm spinner’s looped delivery and was caught for four in the deep.
Tim Southee, who was skipper before him, followed him back into the dugout almost immediately. He passed the ball from spinner Ashwin to Rohit, who reacted quickly to make a great catch at slip and got a lot of cheers from the crowd.
Ajaz Patel was bowled out for one by Jadeja, and William O’Rourke was run out by the bowler for a duck, leaving Phillips stranded on a well-constructed 48 not out. Washington took a fine running catch in the deep.
