1st Test, Day 3: Axar, Ashwin stage India’s comeback vs New Zealand

Axar Patel now has five fifers against his name in four Test matches. On Day 3 of the Kanpur Test, the left-arm spinner registered figures of 62/5, helping the team bowl New Zealand for 296 despite an opening stand of 151. Coming out to bat, India lost opener Shubman Gill for cheap and were 14/1 at stumps. 

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In his 34 overs, Axar Patel managed to sneak in six maidens and bowled at an economy rate of 1.80. His efforts got India a crucial 49-run first innings lead, which increased to 63 at stumps. Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was also on the money as he bowled 42.3 overs to finish on 3 for 82. He in now one wicket away from Harbhajan Singh’s record of 417 Test wickets, which means a scalp will make him the third highest Indian wicket-taker in the format. 

“It’s a dream start, in fact this is a dream within a dream start for me. No, it (Test cricket) isn’t that easy. Was a hard grind today. They didn’t lose any wickets yesterday and the talk was to keep it tight, don’t try for wickets every ball, just look to be patient. I was sticking to the basics and using the crease a bit. My round-arm deliveries were getting something out of the track and I was optimising that a lot. That’s what worked for me. The track is getting slower and there has been more turn now. Variable bounce is also increasing but still think that runs can be made if the batters apply themselves,” Patel said after stumps. 

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At stumps, the hosts were 14 for 1 after losing Shubman Gill (1) for the second time to Kyle Jamieson, who again found a gaping hole between his bat and pad.

In their first innings, Kiwi openers Will Young (89 off 214 balls) and Tom Latham (95 off 282 balls) added 151 for the opening stand but both, despite their dogged display, missed out on hundreds.

The next two sessions belonged to India as they got eight wickets for just 99 runs.

Axar’s perseverance paid off as he changed his line from leg-middle to off-middle and the release was at a greater speed when compared to what he did on the second evening. He removed Ross Taylor (11), Henry Nicholls (2) and Latham within a space of 13 runs to completely upset Black Caps’ rhythm.

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The pitch on the third day didn’t change its character as it stayed low and slow but the Indian spinners did better as the time progressed by varying the pace of their deliveries.

During the session, Ashwin was seen involved in an animated discussion with umpire Nitin Menon after he decided to come round the wicket against Williamson and cautioned for walking on the dangerous area on his follow-through, which also obstructed the umpire’s view.