India crashed to a humiliating three-day home defeat by 113 runs in the second Test in Pune on Saturday as New Zealand became the first touring team to seal a series win in the country for 13 years.
It was also the Kiwis’ first series win India and comes after they ended a 38-year wait for a Test win in India in the first match of the series.
India’s second innings total of 255, having been set a target of 359, was bolstered by number nine Ravindra Jadeja’s 42 as he led a comeback from 167-7. The star of the show was New Zealand’s left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner who claimed six wickets to take his total for the match to 13.
Jadeja was the last wicket to fall as he holed out while continuing his onslaught of the Kiwi attack in pursuit of the then-unlikely target.
India’s defeat by New Zealand a ‘collective failure’
“We failed to respond to the challenges and we sit here with the result,” India captain Rohit Sharma said afterwards. “We didn’t bat well enough, if you want to win Test matches you have to take 20 wickets but batters have to score runs as well.
“We came out thinking we could chase the target but the continuous pressure from both sides meant we were not able to respond to those challenges.
“We want to show up well and win our next match and not look too far ahead. It’s a collective failure. It’s a team that failed to accept the challenge that was thrown at us and we will come out with better intent, ideas and methods at Wankhede (in the final Test).”
Yashasvi Jaiswal went on the attack with some cracking shots to get India off to a rollicking start in the chase, but his dismissal for 77 by Santner and Rishabh Pant’s run out for a duck after lunch left India in deep trouble at 127-4.
Santner, who had earlier removed Rohit Sharma for eight and Shubman Gill for 23, continued to torment India as the left-arm spinner trapped trump card Virat Kohli LBW for 17 and sent the alarm bells ringing in the home changing room.
Sarfaraz Khan was unable to recreate his batting heroics from the first match, perishing for nine after missing a low one from Santner to hand the bowler his fifth wicket.
The shoulders really dropped when Washington Sundar fell for 21 to Glenn Phillips late in the afternoon.
New Zealand the first since England to win in India
“It’s a really special feeling and very proud to be in this position,” New Zealand captain Tom Latham said. “When you come over here you want to compete and we played fantastically well last week but we wanted to stay level and focus on this game.
“Santner was fantastic. He bowled really well and, having been around the group for a long while, he finally gets his reward.”
New Zealand were bowled out for 255 in their second innings after skipper Tom Latham’s 86 and handy contributions lower down the order put them in a strong position to secure a first-ever series victory in India.
India’s highest successful run chase at home is the 387-4 they scored to beat England in Chennai in 2008 on a far better track than the one at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, where spinners have wreaked havoc.
The hosts were looking to avoid their first series defeat on home soil since losing to England in 2012, with their record of 18 successive home series wins since that 2-1 humbling also on the line.
Resuming on 198-5 with their lead already more than 300 runs on an increasingly tough pitch, New Zealand trotted along nicely in the morning until Jadeja castled Tom Blundell for 41 for his first wicket of the match.
Santner, who took 7-53 to give the Black Caps the upper hand on Friday, looked to target Jadeja but misread a looped delivery from the left-arm spinner and was caught in the deep for four.
Former skipper Tim Southee followed him back into the dugout almost immediately, edging spinner Ashwin to Rohit, who showed quick reflexes to pull off a superb catch at slip and draw loud cheers from the crowd.
Washington took a fine running catch in the deep as Ajaz Patel fell for one to Jadeja while William O’Rourke was run out by the bowler for a duck, leaving Phillips stranded on a well-made 48 not out.
Santner’s match figures of 13-157 eclipsed his previous best in Test cricket of 6-93 and resulted in him being named Player of the match.
“To win a series over here is very tough, as India have shown for a very long time, so it’s very pleasing for us,” the 32-year-old reflected.
India remain top of the World Test Championship (WTC), from Australia in second, with the top two nations set to play in the final at Lord’s next June. The last Test of New Zealand’s tour begins on Friday, November 1. The Kiwis are a distant fourth in the WTC table, as things stand.
