#INDvsNZ: Boult and Southee crush hopes of India, Reasons why world's no.1 team lost the match

-Anjali Ankad  

 

The World No.1 Test team could also have a bad day.. which is what exactly happened in the match over New Zealand at the Basin Reserve. The Kiwis pacer duo Trent Boult and Tim Southee once again displayed their magical spell which helped to crumble all the Indian batsmen giving lead by 1-0 in two-match test series. The world's number one team India saw a heart-wrenching defeat against the 'disciplined' New Zealand by 10 wickets and also earned their 100th Test match win. It was an all-round performance as New Zealand dominated in all the sections of cricket to dismiss all the chances of India's victory.

 

 

With the target set only of nine runs by India, itself gives us the reason why they lost the match. The day started with 144/4 with Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari on the crease. However, it did not last long as Rahane in the next 13 balls was departed and then the visitors managed to add only 47 runs on the scoreboard surrendering them to set New Zealand a target of nine runs.

 

Now, when the skipper will have to sit and observe the key points, then he will have a lot to think about various aspects of the game. At some point, the partnership of Rahane and Hanuma Vihari looked good and it seemed like they will help the team to put some decent runs for their bowlers to defend it. However, what worked in favor of NZ was the excellent bowling shown by the Tim Boult and Trent Boult with haul of nine wickets and five wickets respectively in both the innings. They did not give any room to the Indian batsmen to settle down and trapped them with their frequent tricks.

As said by the skipper Kohli, they were satisfied not with the bat. 'This is a game where we did not show enough competitiveness. In the past, we have known that we have played good cricket even when we have lost and we have been in the game. I think we let ourselves down massively in the first innings with the bat." The middle-order especially could have proved themselves when given a chance. However, inconsistency has been unending problem of the middle order especially in away tours.

 

One more aspect to consider was the lack of bowlers. There were only 4 full-time bowlers on the Indian side including three seamers and one spinner who quite played well with Ishant Sharma taking a five-haul wicket. However, there were chances to dismiss the Kiwis when NZ started to struggle in the first innings when they were at 225/7 but knocks from Colin de Grandhomme and debutant Kylie Jamieson helped the hosts to put a massive target. The team which had not lost a single test match in 2019 had crashed down in the first test match of 2020. India will next play their match on 29 February.