Pant and Gill stepped up their game to help India narrow the deficit.
Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill revived India’s innings on the second morning after a rough close to day one. The pair added 96 runs at an impressive pace of over five runs an over, bringing India within 40 runs of New Zealand’s 235, with five wickets in hand by lunch. Pant’s aggressive approach stood out as he raced to India’s fastest half-century against New Zealand, reaching 50 off just 36 balls, and consistently disrupted lead spinner Ajaz Patel’s plans.
New Zealand missed crucial opportunities, dropping both Gill on 45 and Pant on 53. Though Pant’s dropped chance didn’t prove too costly, as he was soon out lbw for 60 to Ish Sodhi. Sodhi joined the attack when India had already trimmed the deficit to 84 but initially struggled, bowling two overs of loose deliveries before finding his rhythm. Glenn Phillips was left unfortunate to be denied two potential wickets.
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The first session saw Matt Henry drop a straightforward chance from Pant. Starting his day on 1 off 1 ball, Pant quickly signaled his intentions. Ajaz’s first delivery was too full, and Pant drove it past mid-off, who then moved deeper. On the very next ball, Pant stepped forward and drilled it past the newly positioned fielder at long-off. Gill also joined the assault, launching an inside-out shot over extra cover in Ajaz’s next over.
Pant continued his attack with a lap shot that pushed the short leg fielder deeper, though he offered two potential catches to the forward short leg shortly afterward. Pant’s aggression forced New Zealand to compromise on their field setup, which he capitalized on with two sixes in Ajaz’s following overs.
Gill, too, wasn’t far behind in intent. He attempted to hit Phillips’ first delivery of the day for six, but skied it to long-on, where substitute fielder Mark Chapman missed the catch. This lifeline helped Gill settle down, and he shifted to a more controlled approach, taking only the safe scoring opportunities. Gill, dropped on 45 off 57 balls, reached 70 off 106 by lunch.
Pant maintained his aggressive stance, picking a Sodhi googly and driving it through extra cover. However, once Sodhi found his line and length, he became more challenging to face. One shorter ball, however, caught Pant lbw, just clipping the leg stump.
To maintain the right-left batting combination, Ravindra Jadeja was promoted up the order. He and Gill added a steady 15-run partnership, guiding India to lunch with no further loss before a jammed Spidercam brought about an early break.
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