Brave New Zealand completes historic series sweep in India

:As New Zealand end a tough Asian tour with an unprecedented 3-0 series win in India, the injured and battered home team will face uncomfortable questions ahead of their trip to Australia for five tests.

The Black Caps’ spinners ran riot on a tough wicket in Mumbai, defeating India for 121 in the second innings and securing a famous 25-run victory on the third day of the third and final test on Sunday.

India last lost at home in a two-match series against South Africa in 2000, when Rohit Sharma’s team was completely outplayed by the tourists in different circumstances.

New Zealand’s new permanent captain, Tom Latham, said: “We are very happy. When we look at the start of the series we see that they are in this position now, the boys have done a great job in the last three tests.” -0 defeat in Sri Lanka.

“We talked about it after every test match, we tried to back it up and I think we’re pretty happy to finally do it in Mumbai on a completely different ground, one that challenges us with bat and ball.

“Being able to adapt to any surface… Different guys stepped up at different times. That’s the beauty of team sport. It was a great team effort all around. I’m proud of the boys.”

India have fallen to second place behind Australia in the World Test Championship table and will need to make a huge effort to reach a third consecutive final next year.

Rishabh Pant was the only Indian batsman to put up a fight, scoring a magnificent 64 on the return pitch of the Wankhede Stadium after the home side reduced the score to 29-5.

Mumbai-born man of the match Ajaz Patel completed the match with 6-57 with his second five-wicket haul, while fellow spinner Glenn Phillips took 3-42 to give the home team another low score in the series. .

“First of all, to win a test match here on this historic ground, but also to win the series 3-0 is really special,” said Daryl Mitchell, who scored 82 in the first innings.

“This is something you dream of. To come here and actually achieve it against a top-notch Indian team is pretty special.

“We’re just a bunch of Kiwis taking on the world.”

The tourists breezed past India to win the opening match in Bengaluru by eight wickets, marking India’s first test win in 36 years, and capped off the series with a landmark 113-run win in Pune days later.

TRUST HAS DECREASED

In Mumbai, New Zealand kept their cool through sweltering heat and humidity to dismantle India, leaving the hosts’ confidence dented ahead of their clash with Australia from November 22.

New Zealand’s first series victory in India dating back to 1955 also ended the hosts’ run of 18 consecutive home wins since a 2-1 defeat against England in 2012.

Rohit delivered the first punch by coming out of his crease and hitting Matt Henry for a four in the first over, but the skipper’s disappointing recent run of form continued and he fell for 11 after playing a rash shot against the same bowler.

He now has just one half-century in 10 innings, six of them with single-figure scores.

Patel took two wickets in two overs as Shubman Gill, who scored a magnificent 90 in the first innings, left a ball that hit the stumps and departed for an innings.

The out-of-form Virat Kohli could not last long as he slid past Patel after reaching the crease.

The crowd fell silent again when Yashasvi Jaiswal was trapped lbw for five by Glenn Phillips and Sarfaraz Khan hit a full delivery straight from Patel to Rachin Ravindra.

Ravindra Jadeja steadied the ship with Pant in a 42-run stand, but Will Young’s terrific catch meant India were on the ropes at 71-6.

Patel dismissed Pant following a review in New Zealand after lunch, but the batsman appeared to suggest he had not made contact with the ball before it was caught.

After that the sales stalled and while India was looking to achieve great success it collapsed with Washington Sundar becoming the last one.

“Losing a series, losing a test match is never easy. It cannot be digested easily. But we did not play our best cricket and we accept that. New Zealand played better than us throughout,” Rohit said.

“There were a lot of mistakes we made, we accept that… I wasn’t at my best as a captain, managing the team and batting.”

New Zealand resumed their second innings 171-9 earlier, but India needed just 14 balls to bowl out the Black Caps as Jadeja bowled Patel to end with 5-55 after collecting five in the first over.