MUMBAI: India stretched their lead to an imposing 405 despite New Zealand’s Mumbai-born spinner Ajaz Patel adding two more to his record 10 wickets in one innings in the second Test on Sunday.
Read more: The three bowlers in Test cricket’s ‘Perfect 10’ club
The hosts, who started the day on 69-0, reached 142 for two at lunch on day three with Shubman Gill, on 17, and skipper Virat Kohli, on 11, batting at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
Overnight batsmen Mayank Agarwal (62) and Cheteshwar Pujara (47) put on 107 runs to take the attack to the opposition in the first hour of play before falling to Ajaz’s left-arm spin.
Agarwal, who made 150 in India’s 325 in the first innings, reached his fifty with a six off Ajaz and followed it up with another boundary to signal his attacking intent.
The opener received a barrage of short balls from fast bowler Tim Southee with one hitting him on the forearm that needed attention by the physio.
He finally fell to Ajaz, who almost bowled unchanged from his end in the morning session, in another attempt to go for the big shot but got caught at long-off.
Pujara, who hit Ajaz for two successive boundaries early in the morning, was denied his fifty after being caught at slip as Ajaz improved to a perfect 12.
He returned 10-119 in India’s first innings on day two to emulate England’s Jim Laker and Indian spin legend Anil Kumble for 10 wickets in one inning.
New Zealand’s batting collapsed to 62 all out in the final session on Saturday, leaving India with a lead of 263.
Read More News On
Catch all the Cricket News, Sports News, Breaking News Event and Latest News Updates on The BOL News
Download The BOL News App to get the Daily News Update & Follow us on Google News.