WTC final | New Zealand bounces back on day three morning
Anything in the vicinity of 250 would be a good score in prevailing conditions.
Skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane walked into a nicely laid trap by the relentless New Zealand pace attack, leaving India at 211 for seven at lunch on day three of the World Test Championship fina in Southampton on Sunday.
India managed 65 runs in the session but lost four wickets. Anything in the vicinity of 250 would be a good score in prevailing conditions.
The overcast conditions made batting difficult and the likes of Kyle Jamieson (20-12-26-3), Trent Boult (20-4-46-1) and Neil Wagner (15-5-40-2) indulged in a ‘who blinks first’ game with the Indian batters and came out trumps with some incisive seam, swing and short pitched bowling.
Kohli (44, 132 balls) couldn’t add a single run to his overnight score as his RCB teammate Jamieson made life difficult for him.
Kohli,who had shown admirable patience in leaving every delivery outside the off-stump on day two, was ready to dig deep but the Black Caps resorted to the tactics that worked wonderfully against the India captain in their home conditions back in 2020.
