India sunk into embarrassment on their home ground. In the Bengaluru Test, the hosts could not put up a fight. It can be said that Matt Henry and William O’Rourke didn’t let them stand a chance. Under their fierce bowling attack, India’s innings didn’t even cross 50 runs, with five batters returning to the pavilion without scoring a run!
Due to rain, no play was possible on the first day of the India-New Zealand Test in Bengaluru. On Thursday (October 17), India won the toss and chose to bat on the second day. However, what followed was a flurry of wickets.
From 9 without loss, India lost 3 wickets before even reaching double digits. Tim Southee started the downfall by dismissing opener Rohit Sharma (2). After that, he didn’t have to do much more.
In the 9th over, Virat Kohli was dismissed after facing 9 balls without scoring, and in the next over, Sarfaraz Khan also returned for a duck. After losing 2 wickets for 10 runs, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant added 21 runs together.
India then lost another 3 wickets as their score slumped from 31-3 to 34-6. For the first time in 55 years, India lost 6 wickets before lunch. India’s score reached 40 only due to Rishabh Pant’s efforts.
Pant played an innings of 20 runs off 49 balls, hitting the first boundary of the innings on the 77th delivery. Apart from Pant, only Jaiswal managed to reach double digits with 13 runs.
None of the remaining eight players could reach double digits. Five players were dismissed for a duck. The last time India had five ducks in an innings was in 1999 against New Zealand in Mohali. However, that innings had at least reached 83 runs.
On Thursday, India was bowled out for just 46 runs in 31.2 overs. This is India’s third-lowest score in Test cricket, and the lowest on home soil. India had never been bowled out for such a low score in Asia before.
Matt Henry was the standout bowler, taking 5 wickets for just 15 runs in 13.2 overs. William O’Rourke took 4 wickets for 22 runs in 12 overs.
In response, New Zealand is in a strong position. The Kiwis scored 67 runs without losing a wicket in 17 overs. Devon Conway reached his fifty and is batting at 51 from 54 balls, while his partner Tom Latham is on 15 runs.
