In cricket, you get to see some moments which are a bit difficult to believe at once. Few such moments were seen today at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Let’s start with the charismatic spell of Ajaz Patel, who today took 10 wickets in a single innings to get his name written in golden letters in the history books. This is the 11th Test of Mumbai-born Ajaz Patel’s test career and 1st on Indian soil. But seeing his mesmerized bowling and his control over the ball, it seemed that he knew the pitch very well for years.
Patel became only the third test cricketer after Jim Laker and Anil Kumble to take all 10 wickets in a Test inning. Due to this effort from the 33-year old, New Zealand managed to restrict India at 325.
Only the third bowler to claim all 10 wickets in an innings in the history of Test cricket 🔥
Take a bow, Ajaz Patel! #WTC23 | #INDvNZ | https://t.co/EdvFj8QtKD pic.twitter.com/negtQkbeKd
— ICC (@ICC) December 4, 2021
A similar kind of effort was shown by India’s lone warrior Mayank Agarwal, who strengthened India in the match by scoring the 4th century of his Test career. Where the Indian middle order disappointed once again, Mayank held the innings at one end and played brilliant innings of 150 runs with the help of 17 fours and 4 sixes.
.@mayankcricket gets to his 150 and departs on the next delivery.
Live – https://t.co/KYV5Z1BJSU pic.twitter.com/KtufGMhVWn
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2021
Men in blue, after scoring 325 runs in the first innings, came out to bowl and straight away started attacking the kiwi batsmen as soon as they came out to bat. Mohammad Siraj’s quick fiery opening spell created the early struggle for the visitors as they lost 3 wickets in the first 5 overs and couldn’t hold onto the innings. The middle and lower order batsmen also couldn’t manage to do much and succumbed to India’s spin trio of Axar, Ashwin or Jayant.
New Zealand are all out for 62! #WTC23 | #INDvNZ | https://t.co/EdvFj8QtKD pic.twitter.com/E48ktesYJU
— ICC (@ICC) December 4, 2021
Tired of bowling more than 100 overs, the New Zealand team had to take the field to bowl again as they were all out for just 62 runs in 28.1 overs within about two hours. For India, Ashwin took the maximum of 4 wickets, Siraj got 3, Axar got 2 and Jayant Yadav got one wicket.
During the bowling, India also suffered a setback in the form of Shubman Gill’s injury, the ball was hit on Gill’s elbow while fielding at short leg, after which he went out of the field and could not even come to bat in the second innings.
🚨 Update 🚨: Shubman Gill suffered a blow to his right elbow while fielding in the first innings. He has not recovered completely and hence not taken the field as a precautionary measure.#TeamIndia #INDvNZ @Paytm pic.twitter.com/UqSzXYTce2
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2021
India started well in the 2nd innings and by the end of the day’s play, India’s score has become 69 without any loss and has taken the lead of 332 runs. Agarwal and Pujara batted without taking much risk. Mayank is unbeaten on 38 and Pujara on 29.
That's Stumps on Day 2 of the 2nd @Paytm #INDvNZ Test in Mumbai!
A superb show with bat & ball from #TeamIndia! 👏 👏
We will be back for the Day 3 action tomorrow.
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/CmrJV47AeP pic.twitter.com/8BhB6LpZKg
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2021
Overall, there was a lot to see on the second day of the Mumbai Test, from Mayank’s 150, Ajaz’s 10-wicket charisma and then New Zealand’s astonishing 62 all out to India’s calm and steady 69-run start on the same pitch in the 2nd innings just shows the competitiveness of test cricket with pure class. Moments like these quite properly prove that cricket is a game of uncertainties, especially test cricket, in which the game take turns session after session without even making you aware of it.
