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Safe to say the Pune Test between India and New Zealand belonged to spinners as they took 39 of the 40 wickets that fell inside three days.
Mitchell Santner (left) and Washington Sundar (Agencies)
New Zealand have stunned India by storming to their first ever Test series win in their backyard. In what will go down in New Zealand cricket history as one of their most memorable performances, the Tom Latham-led side ended India’s unchallenged run at home since 2012 as they took a decisive 2-0 lead in the ongoing three-match Test series.
The contest moved at a breathtaking pace with 40 wickets falling well inside three days at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. Only one of the 40 wickets went to a pacer – Rohit Sharma being cleaned up by Tim Southee in India’s first innings. Of the remaining 39, two were run outs and the rest were bagged by the spinners from the two sides with Mitchell Santner enjoying the lion’s share with 13 scalps followed by Washington Sundar’s 11.
37 wickets by spinners in the Pune Test is second in the all-time list of most wickets by tweakers in a Test. This is the second time that these two teams have produced this feat in a Test with 37 wickets falling to spinners when they met in the Nagpur Test of 1969.
The record of 38 – the joint-most in Test history – was first set in November 2018 during a Test between Sri Lanka and England at Pallekele. The feat was emulated by Bangladesh and Afghanistan during the Chattogram Test of 2019.
Santner produced his career-best performance with a match haul of 13/157 as he ran through India batting line-up like a hot knife through butter. For his stupendous show, the left-arm spinner also won player-of-the-match award.
The third and final Test will be played at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
