India suffered a 3-0 series defeat against New Zealand at home as the black caps sealed a 25-run win in Mumbai. Chasing the target of 147 in the second innings, India struggled against Ajaz Patel who picked 6 wickets and also picked a fifer in the first innings.
The last time India suffered a clean sweep at home was in 2000 in a two-match test series against South Africa. India has been moved down to the second position in the WTC points table with 58.33 while Australia tops the table with 62.50.
India will feel the pressure as they will be heading to play a five-match test series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. India needs to win four out of five matches against Australia if they need to secure the WTC finals spot without depending on other match results.
If they fail to achieve, India has to depend on outcomes from other series. If Sri Lanka’s victory in the upcoming series against Australia and South Africa will directly impact India’s chances in the WTC final.
The one-man show by Rishabh Pant showed resistance in New Zealand’s victory as he scored 64 runs after the hosts subdued for 29/5.
#TeamIndia came close to the target but it’s New Zealand who win the Third Test by 25 runs.
Scorecard – https://t.co/KNIvTEyxU7#INDvNZ | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/4BoVWm5HQP
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 3, 2024
After Latham was dismissed for 1 run in the first over, Conway’s dismissal paid the way for Kiwi’s batting lineup failure. However, Will Young smashed a half-century, but other batters failed to keep the momentum as they lost their wickets at the hands of the India bowlers.
Ravindra Jadeja picked up five wickets in both innings and finished up with the figures of 5/55 in the second innings following up his 5/65 in the first innings. With his fifer, India bundled out New Zealand for 174 runs. and India were set a target of 147 runs by the Kiwis to win the third test.
With Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips scoring 21 and 26 runs, New Zealand scored 174 runs in their second innings and kept a cheesy target for the hosts. But India struggled to score runs as they lost five wickets for 29 runs.
Only Rishabh Pant smashed a half-century and balanced the side. Meanwhile, Jaiswal was dismissed for 5 runs by Glenn Phillips while Matt Henry removed Rohit Sharma for 11 runs.
Ajaz Patel picked the wickets of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan and Ravindra Jadeja for single-digit scores. With a partnership from Pant and Sundar, India is hoping for a win at Mumbai.
However, Pant fell for 64 runs on a delivery from Ajaz Patel. Meanwhile, Glenn Phillips picked Ashwin and Akash Deep’s wicket. With Ajaz Patel dismissing Sundar for 12 runs, India was all out for 121 runs at Wankhede.
