Mumbai: Virat Kohli and Co. completed a whitewash against New Zealand in style at Indore. India defeated the Kiwis by 321 runs on the fourth day of the match.
This is India’s first whitewash under the captaincy of Kohli. With this series victory, India have made a perfect start to their 13-Test long home season.
R Ashwin was awarded the Man of the Match for taking 13 wickets in the Test, he was also the main architect behind NZ's downfall in fourth innings, as he took seven wickets to hand over the victory to India.
Ashwin was also declared the Man of the Series, his seventh award in 14 series.
The Indian players celebrated the win in an ecstatic manner and rightly so. It was a complete performance from the team.
Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara scored centuries in the game, while the Indian bowling attack made life very tough for the visiting team.
NZ: 152/all-out (44.5 overs)
Wicket! Ashwin to Boult, out caught and bowled. There it is! India have completed a whitewash against the Kiwis.
NZ: 138/9 (34.4 overs)
Out! Ashwin to Matt Henry, out. Shami takes the catch.
NZ: 138/8 (34.1 overs)
Out! Ashwin to Jeetan patel, out bowled. Another five-for for Ashwin, this is also his 11th wicket of the match.
NZ: 136/7 (33 overs)
Wicket! Ashwin to Santner, out bowled. The partnership is broken by India's premier spinner. 10th wicket for Ashwin in the match.
NZ: 103/6 (24 overs)
Out! Jadeja to Guptill, out LBW. The opener is gone. Jadeja trapped the batsman in front of the wickets with the help of the arm-ball.
NZ: 103/5 (24 overs)
Wicket! Jadeja joins the party. Neesham, caught by Kohli. India are five wickets away from whitewash.
NZ: 102/4 (23 overs)
Out! Ashwin to Ronchi, out bowled. Wicket no. 23 for the Indian offie.
NZ: 81/3 (19 overs)
Wicket! Ashwin to Ross Taylor, out Bowled. Ashwin pitched it on the rough and it spun back sharply. Taylor attempted a slog sweep but missed the ball, as it hit the middle stump.
NZ: 75/2 (17 overs)
Ross Taylor is looking very aggressive out there. The batsman has a clear plan, and the plan is to counter Indian bowling with hard hitting batting.
It's time for tea at Indore. The NZ innings started off in the worst possible way. They lost latham in the second over, but since then Guptill and Williamson have been solid out there in the middle.
NZ: 38/1 (9 overs)
NZ batmen are playing an attacking brand of cricket. The second wicket partnership now stands at 31 from 44 balls. Time for tea.
NZ: 22/1 (7 overs)
Williamson and Guptill are trying to steady the ship for New Zealand. The partnership for the second wicket is now 15.
NZ: 7/1 (1.4 overs)
Out! Umesh Yadav strikes for India in the second over. Latham, out LBW. This is Yadav's first wicket in the game.
India have finally decided to declare their innings at 216/3. They have set a target of 475 runs for New Zealand. Pujara scored his 8th century for India, while Rahane remained not out on 23.
India: 216/3 (49 overs)
Hundred! Pujara scores his first century of the series. He missed out on a hundred narrowly at Kolkata, but not this time. The man has shown tremendous composure out there to bring-up his 8th Test ton.
India: 204/3 (47 overs)
Rahane is now turning-up the heat. He has made 20 of 16 balls. India now lead by 462 runs.
India: 158/3 (40 overs)
WICKET! Virat Kohli is unable to replicate his form from the first innings, as Jeetan Patel traps him LBW with an off-spinner. The India captain went for the big sweep, but completely missed the line of the ball, which went on to hit his pad.
India: 127/2 (34 overs)
LUNCH! Pujara also brings up his half century, playing a soft single off Jeetan Pate's bowling. The right-handed batsman has played a much steadier innings than opener Gambhir, taking his time to settle in, before playing any big shots. India have a massive 385-run lead. it remains to be seen when captain Kohli decides to declare the innings.
India: 110/2 (30 overs)
WICKET! And that's the end of Gambhir's innings! The southpaw dances down the track, to make room on the off side. However, his inside-out shot is hit straight at Guptill, who takes a smart catch. Jeetan Patel gets the wicket.
Captain Kohli comes out to bat.
India: 109/1 (29 overs)
A great comeback from Gambhir. Last night's injury seems to be a distant memory now. The Delhi southpaw brings up a quickfire fifty, as he prods the ball softly towards mid-on, and scampers for the two runs.
India: 58/1 (20 overs)
DRINKS! Despite the fall of Vijay's wicket, both Gambhir and Pujara are ticking the scoreboard along at a steady pace. The southpaw seems to have overcome his injury overnight, and looks to be in good touch.
India: 34/1 (13.4 overs)
WICKET! New Zealand get their first breakthrough! A bit of a mix-up between Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, as the former committed himself to a quick single. That single was never on though, and Pujara rightly sent him back. However, Vijay was already half way down the pitch, when he turned back, as Guptill sent in a accurate throw for Watling to whip the bails off. Replays showed that Vijay was just inches short of his mark.
Gambhir comes back out to bat.
Indore: India are firmly in the front foot, after bowling New Zealand out for just 299 runs, on Day 3 of the third Test between the two countries, on Monday.
The hosts, who scored 557 in their first innings, managed to retain a massive lead of 258 runs, after the end of the first innings of both the sides.
Skipper Virat Kohli had the option to enforce follow-on, but decided against it, as India came out to bat for the last six overs of the day’s play.
Although India did not lose any wickets, they will be a little concerned about opener Gautam Gambhir, who had to go off retired hurt, after injuring his shoulder. Gambhir had injured his shoulder earlier, while fielding, and later went on to aggravate the injury, as he dived to complete a run, while batting.
Earlier in the day, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin produced yet another fine performance, as he picked up a six-wicket haul, to help India bowl the Kiwis out cheaply.
Not only did he take the important wickets of Tom Latham (53) and James Neesham (71), but he was also responsible for the run out of New Zealand opener Martin Guptill (72), who was looking dangerous, early on, in the innings. The spinner was directly involved in eight of the ten New Zealand wickets, while Ravindra Jadeja took the other two.
Scorecard:
India: 557/5 dec. (Kohli 211, Rahane 188; Boult 2-113, Patel 2-120)
New Zealand: 299 all out (Guptill 72, Neesham 71; Ashwin 6-81, Jadeja 2-80)
India: 11-0 (Vijay 11*, Gambhir 6 retd.)
India lead by 276 runs.
