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Cautious batting by Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal raised hopes of India's comeback after managing to end New Zealand's gruelling outing with the bat on Day 3 of the opening Test in Bengaluru.
India went for tea after posting 57/0, still trailing by 299 runs, with Rohit and Jaiswal unbeaten at scores of 27(42) and 29(49), respectively. After successfully getting past New Zealand's nightmare, which was controlled by Rachin Ravindra, Rohit and Jaiswal ensured India got off to a blistering start. Thsi time, the duo showcased aggression, but in patches and in a controlled manner against New Zealand bowlers. It was Rohit who took off the pressure by picking up the first boundary, and Jaiswal simply followed the path opened up by his captain. The duo negated the spin threat with ease, forcing skipper Tom Latham to constantly evaluate his options. Rohit and Jaiswal kept things tidy and ensured that the hosts didn't lose any wickets in the mounting challenge that lies ahead of them. Before India came out to bat, Rachin Ravindra and Tim Southee continued to frustrate Rohit's side with their free-flowing approach. Southee's sixes continued to increase India's woes, but it was Mohammed Siraj who opened the path for a comeback. The slower delivery from Siraj did the trick, which left Southee (65) livid. Kuldeep Yadav removed the tail end to end the New Zealand horror. Rachin was the final scalp as he continued to assert his authority after tonking a six off Kuldeep. Kuldeep pitched it up and Rachin miscued his sweep which brought curtains down on his 134-run knock. Earlier in the day, it all started with Siraj opening the floodgates and paving the way for a comeback for India. Daryl Mitchell tried to punch the ball away but only managed to get a thick outside edge, which was comfortably taken by Yashasvi Jaiswal at the gully. While completing the catch, Jaiswal ended up hurting himself and got a bandage on his injured hand. Jasprit Bumrah capitalised on the momentum and removed Tom Blundell before he could get a grasp of the surface. While struggling to pick Bumrah's length, Blundell couldn't make up his mind to go forward or move backwards. He tried to cushion the ball away and ended up knicking to KL Rahul at the second slip. After the arrival of Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra continued to lead the charge from the other end. The constant rotation of strikes and the southpaw picking holes in India's field kept the hosts at bay. India skipper Rohit Sharma was quick to react to the situation and introduced Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav to put a limit on the damage. Rohit's move instantly did the trick, with Jadeja keeping it straight to clean up Phillips (14). Matt Henry smashed back-to-back boundaries to keep the visitors' scoreboard ticking. In Jadeja's next over, he swung hard and found the boundary rope on two successive occasions. The experienced India spinner stung Henry back by keeping things simple. He invited Henry to slog him away, and the Kiwi player happily accepted the invitation. Henry went for a wild swing, missed the ball completely and allowed the ball to blow the bails away from the stumps. With New Zealand stuck in a peculiar situation, Rachin and Tim Southee dug deep to derail India's high-flying bowlers. The duo took the brunt of scoring runs in patches and perfectly executed their plan of attack. Southee took on Ravichandran Ashwin and sent the ball straight over his head into the stands for a towering maximum. The Indian side, which had done well till that point to keep New Zealand's runs in check, struggled to keep a check over it. Southee kept coming out of his crease to effectively deal with the spinners. He cheekily pulled out sweep shots to make Ashwin look out of his depths. Rachin wasn't up to try something fancy and relied on the conventional shots. With a sweep, he raised his bat for a century in Bengaluru, a place deeply rooted in his family tree. With the new ball available, India decided to stick with the old one in their hunt for wickets. But Southee just kept going for it and ended the session with one run shy of a half-century. Brief Score: India 46 & 57/0 (Rohit Sharma 27*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 29*; Glenn Phillips 0-2) vs New Zealand: 402 (Rachin Ravindra 134, Tim Southee 65, Devon Conway 91; Ravindra Jadeja 3/72). (ANI)
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