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Rachin was batting on 65 runs from 104 balls when, on the first ball of the 60th over, Sundar breached his defence and clean-bowled him.
Washington Sundar breached Rachin Ravindra’s defence and dismissed him for 65 runs. (Picture Credit: AP, Screengrab)
Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar was added to India’s playing XI in place of Kuldeep Yadav for the 2nd Test against New Zealand, which kicked off at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Thursday (October 24). The 25-year-old spinner, who last played a Test match for India in March 2021 against England at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, produced a magic delivery in the second session of Day 1’s play to breach Rachin Ravindra’s defence and end his 65-run knock.
The left-handed Kiwi batter looked comfortable during his 105-ball stay at the crease and hammered five fours and one six. He played many good shots during his innings but was completely left shell-shocked by Sundar. He was sent back to the pavilion on the first ball of the 60th over of New Zealand’s first inning.
Sundar celebrated his first Test wicket after more than three and a half years in style, and the video of his celebration as well as the magic delivery is now going viral on the internet.
After taking his first wicket of the match, Sundar got rid of New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell on the last ball of the 2nd session. Like Rachin, Blundell was also clean-bowled by Sundar. The 34-year-old cricketer scored only three runs from 12 balls.
Sundar, who was a surprise inclusion in the playing XI, continued his magic in the third session as well, and on the third ball of his first over after tea break, he trapped Daryl Mitchell in front of the wickets and got him out for 18 runs from 54 balls.
Mitchell was declared not out by the onfield umpire, but Sundar convinced Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to take DRS, and it turned out to be a masterstroke.
At the time of Mitchell’s dismissal, the Kiwis were struggling at 204 for 6 in 63.3 overs.
Earlier, the first three wickets of New Zealand’s first inning were all taken by Ravichandran Ashwin. The 38-year-old spinner trapped Kiwi captain Tom Latham (15) in front of the wickets, whereas Will Young (18) and Devon Conway (76) were caught by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
