Indore: India continued their domination over New Zealand as brilliant batting from skipper Virat Kohli (211, 366b, 20×4) and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane (188, 381b, 18×4, 4×6) helped the hosts put up a mammoth 557 for five on the second day of the third and final Test match at the Holkar Cricket Stadium here, Sunday.
Rohit Sharma (51 n o, 63b, 3×4, 2×6) and Ravindra Jadeja (17 n o, 27b, 1×4) forged a 53-run partnership before Kohli decided to declare the innings midway through the final session of the day.
At the close of play, New Zealand were 28 for no loss and trailed India by 529 runs. Martin Guptill (17 batting) and Tom Latham (6 batting) were at the crease.
Resuming the second day at 267 for three, Kohli and Rahane helped India reach 358 for three at lunch. Kohli continued to bat in the post-lunch session with the same authority, maintaining a high scoring rate and slammed his second double-ton in Tests.
At 199, Kiwi pacer Matt Henry delivered a length ball and Kohli rolled his wrists nicely to work it towards deep square and became the first Indian to score two double tons as captain.
Rahane, on the other hand, was not so fluent, but supported his skipper from the other end. The Mumbai batsman scored his first 150 of his career.
Resuming the post-tea session at 456 for three, Kohli and Rahane again paced up their innings as they hit the Kiwi bowlers all around the park before off-spinner Jeetan Patel (2-120) broke their 365-run partnership by trapping Kohli leg-before for 211. Soon after Rahane added 39 runs to the overall score with incoming batsman Rohit Sharma.
India docked 5 runs
In an unusual occurrence, India were handed a five-run penalty after Ravindra Jadeja got a second warning for running on the pitch on day two of the third cricket Test against New Zealand here, Sunday. Jadeja, facing pacer Trent Boult, ran straight down the middle of the pitch attracting a second warning from umpire Bruce Oxenford and with it a penalty of five runs for his team. As a result, the visitors were awarded five runs even before the start of their first innings.
Jinx reminisces ‘special knock’
Ajinkya Rahane termed his knock of 188 and the partnership with skipper Virat Kohli as very special which will be etched in his memory for a long time to come. Rahane added 365 runs with Kohli for the fourth wicket.
“This innings was really special and the partnership too (with captain Virat Kohli). We were 100 for 3 and from there getting 365 is really special. This partnership will stay in memory for a long time,” Rahane said.
He admitted that humidity did play a part during the two days. “It was hot out there today (Sunday). I was struggling Saturday against the short ball and Virat told me to take my time. Today I wanted to dominate after getting the hundred,” an elated Rahane said.
He said that yesterday the fourth wicket pair talked mainly about cricket in the middle but today they wanted to have fun with it being hot in the middle.“We were talking about partnership yesterday but today we did not discuss too much about cricket. We wanted to have fun. The partnership was very crucial and we had decided to attack after getting our hundreds.”
Agencies
