New Zealand Gallops To Victory And Series Sweep

India’s abject surrender is complete as hosts win by seven wickets

- S. Dinakar

The rout was complete. The Indians had nowhere to hide at the Hagley Oval. Outplayed in both skill and strategy by the New Zealanders, the Indians seemed to be looking for the earliest flight to catch home.

Clinical approach

New Zealand, clinical with its end-game skills and winning the key moments of the game, won the second Test by a whopping seven wickets and swept the series 2-0 on Monday, only the third day of the Test.

The exciting Kyle Jamieson was Man-of-the-Match and ace of swing Tim Southee Player-of-the-Series.

India added only 34 runs for its last four wickets in the morning — the late-order fightback remaining an illusion — and a target of 132 was hardly going to stretch New Zealand.

Kane Williamson’s men also picked up 120 points from the series. New Zealand, in all, has 180 points while India stays on 360.

Save Jasprit Bumrah after lunch, when he fired out Kane Williamson with a mean lifter which the Kiwi captain fended into the cordon, and then sent down the pacy off-cutter that accounted for the attractive Tom Blundell (55), the Indian attack did not appear threatening.

The fluent left-hander, Tom Latham (52), was the only other wicket to fall, well caught by a leaping Rishabh Pant as he attempted to pull Umesh Yadav.

Fine start

New Zealand’s opening pair of Latham and Blundell played with the right blend of offence and defence under a cloud cover, with a stiff wind blowing across the ground. The duo’s 103-run opening partnership settled the issue.