Ajaz stars as New Zealand beat India 3-0 in historic Test sweep.India was all out for 121 in 29.1 overs while chasing a target of 147 set by New Zealand, failing to win the match after a score of 64 was made by a player named ‘Rishabh Pant’.
Patel, the New Zealand spinner, was the man of the match with a stunning 6 wickets helping New Zealand to clinch the historic 3-0 win over India in the test series.
The final wicket belonged to Patel who bowled Washington Sundar, helping New Zealand secure their first test series victory in India.
“To secure this match today means lots to us, especially the teams who have competed all the way on this tour, but to win in India, it’s legendary,” said one of the players.
For the first time in the history of cricket, India had lost three test series in their home country and had been beaten three times in a row in the home country. This was the worse ever performance shown by India in their own home country.
“This will be a very low point in my career, having lost three games at home,” said a fuming Sharma after the match.
That entirely falls upon me. As a leader, I have not performed at my best since the beginning of the series.
It was a new day in tournament history when New Zealand under new captain Tom Latham, came up with something unexpected during the series against the other countries after missing out on the opening round of play due to it’s senior batsman Kane Williamson being benched due to a thigh pull.
The Black Caps turned their backs in a series 2-0 whitewashed in Sri Lanka, and turned India against them, beating the latter for the first Test series at its own ground in the past 12 years.
“Very ecstatic”, said Latham. “It is at times like this that one looks at the progress his team has made over the period, having begun the series with lower expectations and now finds himself in a better position. The boys have performed exceptionally well during the last three test matches.
New Zealand’s Ajaz who was born in Mumbai, India had a total of 11 wickets during this match after previously getting the attention of breaking a record and making history in 2021 by taking a total of ten wickets in only a test inning.
Whilst chasing a test target that was fairly difficult on a bowler’s wicket, New Zealand managed to minimize the Indian side to 29 runs at the fifth wicket before the left hand batsman Pant counter attacked the Sri lankans with a half century.
Ajaz, after lunch, had Pant caught by wicket keeper Tom Blundell, a decision that the on-field umpire refused to give but was successfully overturned by the New Zealand team. Pant, clearly unimpressed, slumped back to the pavilion.
“If we say something, it will not go down well. If the decision is not conclusive then the decision has to stand with what on the field umpire says,” said Rohit.
“I didn’t see how that decision was reversed.”
Glenn Phillips then got two in two balls and Ajaz finished the match in style and was awarded player of the match.
India on the other hand managed the New Zealand team for a humiliating 174 runs in the very first session with Ravindra Jadeja picking 5 wickets in a total of 10 runs in the match on a pitch with spin assistance.
However, it was the New Zealand pacers who spearheaded by Ajaz who tore through the upper middle order of India’s batting.
Matt Henry, the fast bowler was successful in picking up Rohit Sharma in the 3rd over. He forced the captain to hand in a catch to Phillips on midwicket edge for only 11 runs.
He continued his miserable run with the bat with scores of 2, 52, 0, 8 and 18 in the previous five innings in this series.
Ajaz then bowled Shubman Gill followed by getting Daryl Mitchell to catch Virat Kohli on 1 to silence the home fans.
Kohli’s form has also dipped in the series, as he has managed only one half-century and scored four single digit runs in the series.
To stir the contest, Pant scripted 42 runs for the sixth wicket but Ajaz bagged his second wicket of the match dismissing Jadeja for six runs.
Will Young’s contributions of 71 and 51 in both the New Zealand innings were quite crucial and he was declared the player of the series with 244 runs in his name.